Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®) - RxNorm Overview

source : http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm/overview.html

RxNorm Overview

This overview is intended to give new users a general idea of the purpose and structure of RxNorm. The RxNorm technical documentation contains a more-detailed explanation of the technical aspects of RxNorm.

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What is RxNorm?

RxNorm is two things: a normalized naming system for generic and branded drugs; and a tool for supporting semantic interoperation between drug terminologies and pharmacy knowledge base systems. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) produces RxNorm.

Purpose of RxNorm

Hospitals, pharmacies, and other organizations use computer systems to record and process drug information. Because these systems use many different sets of drug names, it can be difficult for one system to communicate with another. To address this challenge, RxNorm provides normalized names and unique identifiers for medicines and drugs. The goal of RxNorm is to allow computer systems to communicate drug-related information efficiently and unambiguously.

Scope of RxNorm

RxNorm contains the names of prescription and many over-the-counter drugs available in the United States. RxNorm includes generic and branded:

• Clinical drugs - pharmaceutical products given to (or taken by) a patient with therapeutic or diagnostic intent
• Drug packs - packs that contain multiple drugs, or drugs designed to be administered in a specified sequence

Radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media, food, dietary supplements, and medical devices, such as bandages and crutches, are all out of scope for RxNorm.

How is RxNorm produced?

Where does RxNorm get its data?

How are the RxNorm data organized?

What is the Current Prescribable Content Subset?

How do I get the RxNorm data?

How often is RxNorm released?

Where can I get more information about RxNorm?