E-drug: Universal code for drugs (cont'd)
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Sorry, Mary.
There is such no universal code for medicines.
In all computer systems you have to assign each item to a stock
number. If there is only one user (one hospital) then you have much
freedom. But if there are several users, the discipline and rules get
tighter. Each package size must have their own stock number, so
must even the same package size from different manufacturers.
For medicines there ought to be a national system assigning stock
numbers to each variety of the medicine, but I fear that very many
countries lack such systems.
It is also possible for countries to join and have a common stock
number system. This has been done in the Nordic countries. But the
difficulties/bureaucracy with such systems are closely linked to the
size of the market/population.
Several medicine packages have a bar code, which is just a
machine readable number. This number is usually a secondary
identification number. It is usually not suitable as a stock number.
Drug classification systems are not suitable for stock management.
They are an additional structure which can help you make statistics
on drug sales/consumption, and to organise your inventory
therapeutically, among other things.
There are several (too many national and no global) systems for
classification of medicines. The ATC system www.whocc.nmd.no
is the best, and parts of WHO recommend it. The established
countries do not yet seem to see the need for a globally accepted
standard for drug classification.
Stein Lyftingsmo
Hospital Pharmacy of Elverum, Norway
e-mail: sjappe@apotek.no
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