- Email: [email protected]
National Drug Code Developments
Houle
(Continued from page 44 1)
But, at the same time, the profession must embark upon an arduous and unendIng process. The basic principle governing Its work should be the assessment of competence, not merely the performance of ritualistic attendance at scheduled activities. To assess competence, standards must be set, and they can be arrived at only by collaboration between your professional association and the representatives of allied professions and the general public. These standards must take due account of subspecialties and various conditions of practice and, when once established, they must be periodically revised. Only when clearly worded and agreed-upon standards exist can a sound system of assessment of individual competence be constructed. In the meantime, a phasing process must be put into effect. The space program of the last 15 years called for several sequences of action: an unmanned satellite circling the earth, a manned flight in space, a manned orbital flight around the earth, a manned orbital flight around the moon, a landing upon the moon, and a space station Circling the earth but manned by different crews sent up to it. Even before the first phase was accomplished, people were at work designing the later stages. A complex system of national standards upon which assessment can be successfully based is the ultimate phase of recredentialing . While some leaders of the profession are concentrating upon it, others must be working on the earlier phases . Professions are at different stages of advancement and therefore, not being a
National Drug Code Developments The use of the National Drug Code in the development of automated third party payment systems was the topic of discussion when the Drug Ad Hoc technical and communications subcommittees met recently with representatives from major health insurance companies. Emphasis was placed Right book, wrong price
In the June JAPhA Book Pharm, page 360, we listed an incorrect price of $25.75 for Pharmacy Practice, Social and Behavioral Aspects. The correct price for that book is $15.75.
460
physiCian nor a pharmacist, I can neither write nor fill a prescription for you. Possibly a desirable regime might have these phases-the examined improvement of all present efforts; the cautious introduction of the continuing education unit, being sure to keep it at a high level of quality; the study and testing of more rigorous systems of assessment (such as examinations, inspections and peer reviews) to see which will work best for you; and an analysis of whether improvement seems to occur more successfully under state regulation or under associational auspices, in both cases including representatives of the lay public and of allied professions. I hope you will find that you can regulate yourselves sufficiently well so that state control can be eliminated-but such a result cannot occur unless you have demonstrated success in the earlier phases. All of these concerns suggest intermittent education, but beneath them lies the deeper theme of continuing education . How does the individual worker build within his or her value structure the belief that continuous learning should be a way of life and how is that belief carried out? Is performance in this respect a wholly innate or self-directed accomplishment, or can external influences be brought to bear upon it? If the organized career group can have such an influence, how does it do so? Is it enough merely to increase the volume and quality of intermittent learning in the belief that thereby reinforcers, innovators, pacesetters, the middle majority, and laggards will all be aided to strengthen their underlying sense of desire and need for learning? It is in finding answers to these questions that your deepest challenges lie.
Here again there is need for a series of studies involving the professional school, the other parts of the university, the professional association, the employer, industry and the government. But we do not have enough time to consider this general topic today, for it is so deep and rich that it comes close to the very heart of our existence . The world of work is scorned by those who argue that it does not involve the nobler aspects of life. And yet, as Gautier once said, "All else passes; art alone endures." He was thinking only ·about the fine arts, but his observation is also true in the dictionary's broadest definition of art as "skill in performance, acquired by experience, study, or observation." Modern men and women find that the essential nature of the work they do (as pharmacists, architects, engineers, healers, priests, administrators, or members of other professions) has endured through the centuries while civilizations rose and fell and new ones took their place. The quest for excellence in any craft requires continuing effort to.learn to perform it well. An observation by Joseph Conrad identifies the lasting goal at which that quest always aims. He said, " .. . the attainment of proficiency, the pushing of your skill with attention to the most delicate shades of excellence is a matter of vital concern. Efficiency of a practically flawless kind may be reached naturally in the struggle for bread. But there is something beyond-a higher pOint, a subtle and unmistakable touch of love and pride beyond mere skill; almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art-which is art. " •
on the need for all parties associated with the processing of prescription reimbursement claims to settle on one code in order to develop a universally acceptable system. It was generally agreed that the National Drug Code would suit this purpose. It is estimated that such a system would result in industry-wide savings in the neighborhood of $270 million by 1980, based on a predicted 1980 level of three billion prescriptions with an expected 60 percent or more connected with patient reimbursement claims. A study of third party claim processing costs has indicated a realizable savings of 30 cents per claim through automated systems. Plans are underway for further coordinated studies in these areas by represen-
tatives of the Drug Ad Hoc Committee, the insurance industry and other interested bodies. Automated systems appear to be the principal means toward achieving cost reductions in prescription and claim reimbursement processing. The Drug Ad Hoc Committee was formed in 1971 to represent all segments of the drug industry-manufacturing, wholesale and retail in cooperation with their national associations. Since that time, the committee has attempted to promote the industry-wide adoption of the National Drug Code which was originally established under the direction of the Food and Drug Administration, and to maintain the compatibility of the National Drug Code with other industries' codes.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
(Continued from page 44 1)
But, at the same time, the profession must embark upon an arduous and unendIng process. The basic principle governing Its work should be the assessment of competence, not merely the performance of ritualistic attendance at scheduled activities. To assess competence, standards must be set, and they can be arrived at only by collaboration between your professional association and the representatives of allied professions and the general public. These standards must take due account of subspecialties and various conditions of practice and, when once established, they must be periodically revised. Only when clearly worded and agreed-upon standards exist can a sound system of assessment of individual competence be constructed. In the meantime, a phasing process must be put into effect. The space program of the last 15 years called for several sequences of action: an unmanned satellite circling the earth, a manned flight in space, a manned orbital flight around the earth, a manned orbital flight around the moon, a landing upon the moon, and a space station Circling the earth but manned by different crews sent up to it. Even before the first phase was accomplished, people were at work designing the later stages. A complex system of national standards upon which assessment can be successfully based is the ultimate phase of recredentialing . While some leaders of the profession are concentrating upon it, others must be working on the earlier phases . Professions are at different stages of advancement and therefore, not being a
National Drug Code Developments The use of the National Drug Code in the development of automated third party payment systems was the topic of discussion when the Drug Ad Hoc technical and communications subcommittees met recently with representatives from major health insurance companies. Emphasis was placed Right book, wrong price
In the June JAPhA Book Pharm, page 360, we listed an incorrect price of $25.75 for Pharmacy Practice, Social and Behavioral Aspects. The correct price for that book is $15.75.
460
physiCian nor a pharmacist, I can neither write nor fill a prescription for you. Possibly a desirable regime might have these phases-the examined improvement of all present efforts; the cautious introduction of the continuing education unit, being sure to keep it at a high level of quality; the study and testing of more rigorous systems of assessment (such as examinations, inspections and peer reviews) to see which will work best for you; and an analysis of whether improvement seems to occur more successfully under state regulation or under associational auspices, in both cases including representatives of the lay public and of allied professions. I hope you will find that you can regulate yourselves sufficiently well so that state control can be eliminated-but such a result cannot occur unless you have demonstrated success in the earlier phases. All of these concerns suggest intermittent education, but beneath them lies the deeper theme of continuing education . How does the individual worker build within his or her value structure the belief that continuous learning should be a way of life and how is that belief carried out? Is performance in this respect a wholly innate or self-directed accomplishment, or can external influences be brought to bear upon it? If the organized career group can have such an influence, how does it do so? Is it enough merely to increase the volume and quality of intermittent learning in the belief that thereby reinforcers, innovators, pacesetters, the middle majority, and laggards will all be aided to strengthen their underlying sense of desire and need for learning? It is in finding answers to these questions that your deepest challenges lie.
Here again there is need for a series of studies involving the professional school, the other parts of the university, the professional association, the employer, industry and the government. But we do not have enough time to consider this general topic today, for it is so deep and rich that it comes close to the very heart of our existence . The world of work is scorned by those who argue that it does not involve the nobler aspects of life. And yet, as Gautier once said, "All else passes; art alone endures." He was thinking only ·about the fine arts, but his observation is also true in the dictionary's broadest definition of art as "skill in performance, acquired by experience, study, or observation." Modern men and women find that the essential nature of the work they do (as pharmacists, architects, engineers, healers, priests, administrators, or members of other professions) has endured through the centuries while civilizations rose and fell and new ones took their place. The quest for excellence in any craft requires continuing effort to.learn to perform it well. An observation by Joseph Conrad identifies the lasting goal at which that quest always aims. He said, " .. . the attainment of proficiency, the pushing of your skill with attention to the most delicate shades of excellence is a matter of vital concern. Efficiency of a practically flawless kind may be reached naturally in the struggle for bread. But there is something beyond-a higher pOint, a subtle and unmistakable touch of love and pride beyond mere skill; almost an inspiration which gives to all work that finish which is almost art-which is art. " •
on the need for all parties associated with the processing of prescription reimbursement claims to settle on one code in order to develop a universally acceptable system. It was generally agreed that the National Drug Code would suit this purpose. It is estimated that such a system would result in industry-wide savings in the neighborhood of $270 million by 1980, based on a predicted 1980 level of three billion prescriptions with an expected 60 percent or more connected with patient reimbursement claims. A study of third party claim processing costs has indicated a realizable savings of 30 cents per claim through automated systems. Plans are underway for further coordinated studies in these areas by represen-
tatives of the Drug Ad Hoc Committee, the insurance industry and other interested bodies. Automated systems appear to be the principal means toward achieving cost reductions in prescription and claim reimbursement processing. The Drug Ad Hoc Committee was formed in 1971 to represent all segments of the drug industry-manufacturing, wholesale and retail in cooperation with their national associations. Since that time, the committee has attempted to promote the industry-wide adoption of the National Drug Code which was originally established under the direction of the Food and Drug Administration, and to maintain the compatibility of the National Drug Code with other industries' codes.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION