Pharmacode (Switzerland)
The Pharmacode is a numerical identification key for clearly referencing articles in the Swiss healthcare market. It can be encoded with the barcode standard Code39 . The manufacturers of the articles must apply for the Pharmacode from HCI Solutions AG for a fee. The number can be obtained from the INDEX database products from HCI Solutions AG and is publicly accessible in the refdatabase article master from Refdata . It was also included in the list of specialties of the Federal Office of Public Health until the end of 2014 .
history
In the 1970s, electronic transmission protocols for ordering pharmacies from wholesalers were introduced in several European countries . Virtually all of these protocols used a seven-digit numeric key; In Switzerland the key is called the Pharmacode, in Germany and Austria it is called the Pharmazentralnummer (PZN).
commitment
In addition to its original use in the logistics chain, the Pharmacode is now also used for electronic billing between the service provider and the cost unit. Many electronic prescribing systems also use the Pharmacode. Pharmacy services are also coded with a pharmacode.
future
In 2011, more than 2/3 of the number supply of the originally only seven-digit Pharmacode was used up. In accordance with technical progress, the data type was therefore changed in 2015 from the previous seven-digit string with leading padding to a normal integer (data type) . This increased the number of possible values from previously 10 million to 2 billion, and the number stock is therefore available for the long term.
GS1 (Switzerland) and e-mediat AG (the predecessor company of HCI Solutions AG) also agreed to continuously supplement the Pharmacode with the internationally used Global Trade Item Number in order to be able to guarantee clear references in the future with a continuous key that is complete for the Swiss market (GTIN). A GTIN is also assigned to each pharmaceutical code.
Web links
- Pharmacode at HCI Solutions AG
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Bulletin 37/13. (PDF, 532 kB) (No longer available online.) Federal Office of Public Health, September 9, 2013, p. 641 , archived from the original on August 8, 2014 ; Retrieved June 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Article database. In: refdata.ch. Refdata, accessed August 18, 2017 .
- ↑ List of specialties. Federal Office of Public Health, accessed June 8, 2014 .
- ↑ Media release: Patient safety and the supply chain are growing together. No more isolated solutions. GS1 Switzerland, e-mediat, Refdata, April 16, 2012, accessed on June 8, 2014 .
- ↑ GTIN and Pharmacode. (No longer available online.) In: GS1 Network Online. June 7, 2012, archived from the original on October 12, 2013 ; Retrieved June 8, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
