The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs is launching a next-generation database and communication product that it says will streamline claims processing and enable faster reimbursement.
NCPDP, an organization that develops standards for the pharmacy sector of the healthcare industry, introduced the new data service on Tuesday.
Called dataQ, the service provides healthcare stakeholders with current and full pharmacy information. NCPDP said dataQ gives pharmacies, pharmacy benefits managers, health plans and other stakeholders improved accuracy that leads to faster claims submission and reimbursement.
Side-benefits of the new service include pharmacy network development and credentialing, data validation, drug utilization monitoring and product recalls, along with market research and analysis, NCPDP executives said.
The organization said dataQ had its start when it was developed to enumerate NCPDP Provider IDs. In addition to the new national provider identifier for pharmacies, it's been enhanced to include a comprehensive database of updated pharmacy information.
The new resource is available with various subscription and administrative levels, and it offers expanded functionality to include optional real-time Web access to pharmacy data, custom reporting and file download capabilities.
NCPDP said the new service will be helpful to payers and other drug claims processors, pharmacies, pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers, informatics companies, pharmacy practice management system vendors, list procurement vendors and others.