In a time of constantly changing prices, a robust drug pipeline, and new findings about therapeutic uses, drug formulary management demands a powerful electronic solution. Only through ongoing access to timely and comprehensive data can formularies continue to fulfill their cost containment role without compromising patient safety.
That's why First DataBank created an easy-to-use drug formulary management and pricing analysis application, which we've built on the most widely respected—and widely used—drug database in the healthcare industry: our National Drug Data File Plus (NDDF Plus).
More Timely Information Drives a More Efficient Process
Even as the entire healthcare system moves toward full electronic connectivity, many payers still build and manage their formularies using manual processes. Existing electronic solutions typically don't have automated access to timely and comprehensive information about drug alternatives within therapeutic classes.
First DataBank offers the simplest way to automate the complex and time-consuming process of manual formulary building. We facilitate drug formulary management through user-friendly access to multiple logical and robust therapeutic classification systems, and through the breadth and depth of our drug vocabulary. And we provide detailed sets of data elements for supporting informed decisions about brand versus generic status and for grouping excluded and preferred products.
Our databases and drug formulary management tools enable you to save significant costs, by:
- Reducing the amount of time and resources spent on building your formularies
- Allowing you to better maintain formularies using comprehensive therapeutic classifications, as well as pricing information, updated weekly
- Helping you rapidly share new or updated formularies within your company or with plan participants
Essential Building Blocks
In short, First DataBank sets the standard for providing context-relevant drug information for the most efficient formulary management capabilities available. Numerous components contribute to these capabilities.
NDDF Plus is the leader in supplying comprehensive coverage of descriptive, pricing and clinical information on drugs. It encompasses medications approved by the FDA, plus commonly used over-the-counter drugs and information on herbals, nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, and medical devices. Comprehensive and up-to-date are the key concepts here, since drug content is dynamic and notoriously difficult to maintain. The number of drugs on the market has grown exponentially in recent years, not to mention the challenge of daily changes in pricing information. It's essential, therefore, that the drug knowledge base behind formulary management systems be the most reliable in the industry. NDDF Plus is that knowledge base.
Our proprietary Enhanced Therapeutic Classification (ETC) system allows you to quickly find products within therapeutic classes and to revise clinical information at as general or specific a level as necessary.
By taking advantage of the latest software advances, Formulist provides unprecedented formulary building and price-analysis capabilities through a user-friendly interface that draws on the over 100,000 drug and health products in NDDF Plus and the power of ETC. Compatible with most industry IT standards, Formulist also enables you to quickly move drugs into and out of various therapeutic classifications; allows rapid access to any changes in clinical or pricing information; and allows you to create favorites lists that you can view in multiple ways.
