American Society for Automation in Pharmacy

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	Upcoming Events 2012 Midyear Industry & Technology Issues Conference June 14-16 The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, Pennsylvania more events >> ASAP Annual Report, January 20, 2012 View the Midyear Report presented to the membership at the Annual Industry & Technology Issues Conference at The Don CeSar, St. Pete Beach, Florida. Download presentations from the conference. News Update 2011 ASAP Prescription Monitoring Program Standard Version 4.2 This latest version of the ASAP PMP IG is now available. 4.2 includes several refinements to 4.1 to improve the data collected by prescription-monitoring programs. Stakeholders taking part in the updating process included a number of states with operational prescription-monitoring programs, national drug chains and independents, and pharmacy system vendors. ASAP standards are used by every state with a prescription-monitoring program, and states ready to implement a PMP will be using the ASAP standard. Please click on the bookstore tab to order. 2011 Implementation Guide ASAP Standard for Pseudoephedrine (PSE)-Tracking Programs 1.1 A revised version of the ASAP PSE-Tracking IG is now available and includes several refinements and updates to the original version. Please click on the bookstore tab to order. 2009 ASAP Prescription Monitoring Program Standard Version 4.1 Following a four-month review of the 2007 version 4.0 standard, the American Society for Automation in Pharmacy has announced the release of version 4.1 of its prescription-monitoring standard. Stakeholders taking part in the updating process included a number of states with operational prescription-monitoring programs, national drug chains and independents, and pharmacy system vendors. The goal was to improve the quality of information reported to the states, while at the same time not increasing the complexity to report controlled substances dispensed. Also, preserving backward compatibility with version 4.0 that was published in 2007 was an overriding priority of the workgroup. Currently 33 states have prescription-monitoring programs, where the ASAP standard is used, with several more scheduled to implement such a program using the ASAP standard. Prescription-monitoring programs are implemented to detect fraud, diversion of controlled substances, and potential abuse of these drugs. The latest release includes provision for capturing information from electronic prescriptions for tracking purposes, once e-prescribing is allowed for controlled substances. Please click on the bookstore tab to order. 2010 ASAP Prescription Monitoring Program Standards Versions 1.0 for PMP Zero Reports and Error Reports December 2010 The ASAP Zero Reports standard requires only three fields to be populated to tell a prescription-monitoring program that no controlled substances were dispensed. The standard was also designed to address those states that use a two-pass editing process when files are received. In such a case the first pass determines if all required information has been transmitted. The second pass would see that it is a Zero Report, since only the first name field, last name field, and date filled field would be populated with the information defined in the standard. Having a standard way of reporting that no controlled substances were dispensed simplifies the process for system vendors and chains that must address the reporting requirements of multiple states. ASAP encourages all state PMPs to adopt the Zero Report standard for this reason. The ASAP Error Reports standard is designed to eliminate the need for retail chains and pharmacy system vendors to support different formats and content of error reports received from prescription monitoring programs. The standard includes a minimum data set to identify the records that have errors or missing information in the batch files submitted. The standard should improve compliance in correcting and resending the records in question. Also included is a standard format for the summary reports pharmacies receive. The new transactions are available by visiting the bookstore section. ASAP Announces New Standard for FDA REMS Programs January 2011 We take pride in our commitment to providing innovative solutions to support effective communications through pharmacy systems in the interest of appropriate and safe patient care. I’m pleased to share with you that over the past few years, we’ve partnered with Cephalon, Inc. to provide our expertise and insights as they worked on a proposed Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for some of their medicines. Based on this partnership, we’ve developed a new communication standard for pharmacy management systems to send required safety data to a REMS database. The Standard for Real-Time Safety Adjudication for REMS Elements to Assure Safe Use (ETASU) Programs was developed based on the current ASAP Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) standard, version 4.1, that is widely used today. This new communication standard is designed to support the various ETASU requirements of a REMS program and not just those of Cephalon. Using the ASAP PMP standard as the basis for the REMS application minimizes programming changes needed in pharmacy management systems in order to handle the safety adjudication requirements and should expedite implementation. In addition to Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) transmissions using segments and data elements, the ASAP standard supports the exchange of XML for real-time safety adjudication enabled by a highly structured, sequential schema. This schema is implemented using the XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) defined by the World Wide Web Consortium. ASAP is pleased to have had the opportunity to work with Cephalon on this project. As we see an increasing focus from FDA on REMS programs, I believe we have taken a leadership role in shaping how we can all work together to shape programs that will impact safe and appropriate use of medicines in a meaningful way. To order a copy, visit the bookstore section. ASAP Puts Dollar Value on Technology The American Society for Automation in Pharmacy (ASAP) announces the results of a year-long analysis on the value of the technology used in pharmacy. The purpose was to show how the investment pharmacists make in computer systems, supporting databases, and related technology contribute to patient safety, medication compliance, and prevention of fraud and abuse. The organization determined that the technology used and costs incurred are overlooked in efforts to justify higher reimbursement from prescription drug plans. Read the full press release View the Results Members who have questions, comments, or who need information about what's happening in pharmacy technology and automation, please call or email us. If we can't answer your question, we'll get the answer for you.