July Release - 07/07/2014
This RxNorm Current Prescribable Content release is consistent with the 2014AA UMLS Metathesaurus release. For additional information about RxNorm releases, including scripts for loading the RxNorm data into Oracle and MySQL databases, read the RxNorm Technical Documentation.
Data Changes
Prescribable Names:
RxNorm includes a new prescribable name term type (TTY=PSN). Prescribable names are user-friendly synonyms of RxNorm SCD/SBD/GPCK/BPCK concepts and are meant to be used as display names in e-prescribing systems. Unlike with other RxNorm synonyms (TTY=SY and TTY=TMSY), there can only be a single prescribable name associated with an RxNorm concept (i.e., RXCUI). RxNorm editors create prescribable names based upon the drug packaging in the Structured Product Labels (SPLs) on DailyMed (//dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/). Prescribable names may contain common ingredient abbreviations and tall man lettering, and their strengths may not be normalized as they are in the SCD/SBD/GPCK/BPCK names.
The July release of RxNorm includes prescribable names for many drugs with solid oral and inhalant dose forms. RxNorm editors will continue creating prescribable names, expanding to drugs with other dose forms. These prescribable names will be added to RxNorm releases in the coming months.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) would like to thank the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for help with funding this project and the National Council For Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) for help with organizing content discussions with stakeholders. The addition of prescribable names to RxNorm is a major step towards improving the efficiency and accuracy of drug information management in e-prescribing systems.
Oral Dose Forms:
RxNorm editors modified several dose forms to include the ‘Oral’ route of administration:
- Disintegrating Table > Disintegrating Oral Tablet
- Extended Release Capsule > Extended Release Oral Capsule
- Extended Release Tablet > Extended Release Oral Tablet
- Flakes > Oral Flakes
- Wafer > Oral Wafer
- Lozenge > Oral Lozenge
- Granules > Oral Granules
- Pellet > Oral Pellet
- Crystals > Oral Crystals
The strings of RxNorm concepts using these dose forms have been updated, but their RXCUIs remain unchanged.
Data Counts
| Term Type or Attribute | Number |
|---|---|
| Active GPCKs | 265 |
| Active BPCKs | 354 |
| Active SCDs | 14306 |
| Active SBDs | 8428 |
| Active RXNORM MINs | 1470 |
| Active RXNORM INs | 4917 |
| Active RXNORM PINs | 1303 |
| Active RXNORM BNs | 4999 |
| Active RXNORM DFs | 98 |
| Source-asserted NDCs | 134171 |
| Distinct source-asserted NDCs | 121397 |
| SAB=RXNORM NDCs | 182352 |
| Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDCs | 182352 |
Last Reviewed: July 7, 2014