What is RxNorm?
RxNorm is a reference terminology that applies standardized names to medications. Its creation was motivated by need for a standard terminology for representing drugs. These names are then linked to the drug names used in pharmacy software programs that manage patient medications and interactions (e.g. Micromedex, Medispan, First Databank). Rx norm also includes the National Drug File -Reference Terminology (NDF-RT) that is used by the Veterans Health Administration (NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014).
By creating a standard, RxNorm acts like a translator between different systems that do not use the same software or vocabulary (NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014). For example, if an individual spoke English and another individual spoke Mandarin they could not communicate easily and might miscommunicate frequently. However, if they both spoke French then they would have a standard for communicating. Rx Norm is the French language in this metaphor. English and Mandarin are the two different pharmacy software programs.
Support of Patient Care …show more content…
RxNorm may be used by clinicians and patients in various roles. Physicians may want to look up information about ingredients when checking for allergies. A pharmacist may want to look at the links between brand name and generics if they are substituting one for the other. Patients may use applications that use RxNorm names and codes to create and save a list of their medications (Nelson, et al.,
RxNorm is a reference terminology that applies standardized names to medications. Its creation was motivated by need for a standard terminology for representing drugs. These names are then linked to the drug names used in pharmacy software programs that manage patient medications and interactions (e.g. Micromedex, Medispan, First Databank). Rx norm also includes the National Drug File -Reference Terminology (NDF-RT) that is used by the Veterans Health Administration (NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014).
By creating a standard, RxNorm acts like a translator between different systems that do not use the same software or vocabulary (NIH U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2014). For example, if an individual spoke English and another individual spoke Mandarin they could not communicate easily and might miscommunicate frequently. However, if they both spoke French then they would have a standard for communicating. Rx Norm is the French language in this metaphor. English and Mandarin are the two different pharmacy software programs.
Support of Patient Care …show more content…
RxNorm may be used by clinicians and patients in various roles. Physicians may want to look up information about ingredients when checking for allergies. A pharmacist may want to look at the links between brand name and generics if they are substituting one for the other. Patients may use applications that use RxNorm names and codes to create and save a list of their medications (Nelson, et al.,