PRODUCTS

As part of our planned product development strategy, First DataBank Europe (FDBE) delivered a number of enhancements to the Multilex Drug Data File (Multilex DDF) to improve medication and dose selection for both primary and secondary care prescribing, as well as a new Drug-Food Interactions module.

Medication selection

Dose

Secondary care prescribing

Drug-Food Interactions module

If you would like further information on the Product Release 2008, please contact Customer Services on 01392 440 111 or via e-mail at customerservices@firstdatabank.co.uk.

Medication selection

• A new name field in which the strength is placed prior to the formulation description. This reduces the potential confusion arising from the two numeric elements ‘product strength’ and ‘dosing instructions’ appearing next to each other.  This change also further aligns Multilex DDF with the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d).
•  The option to display names using TALLMAN lettering in order to help prescribers to distinguish between similarly named products is now available, ensuring that Multilex DDF continues to conform with guidance issued by the NPSA.
• To support the medication selection process further, a new picklist order key is provided to enable products to be grouped by formulation and then ordered by increasing strengths, making it easier for prescribers to select the correct strength of their chosen medication.
• In response to requests from users, the coverage of herbal, homoeopathic and anthroposophical products in Multilex DDF has been increased. A flag is provided to identify these and existing complementary medicines, enabling picklist filtering according to the prescribing needs of the user.
  
  

Dose

FDBE has developed a new Dose module to enable systems to present a selection of dosages tailored to characteristics such as ‘therapeutic intent’ and ‘patient age’. The initial release of this module is for development purposes and includes beta content. FDBE welcomes working with our partners on the integration of our new dosing module and identifying priorities for ongoing content population. 

In order to support manual entry of dosages where they are necessary, the elements required for users to build their own customised dosing instruction are also provided. In order to verify that these customised doses fall within a safe range for a specific patient condition, FDBE has increased the scope of the Dose Range Check module to include indication-specific dosing.

Secondary care prescribing

In recognition of the varying requirements of the wide range of clinicians using Multilex DDF, FDBE now provides a new set of medication concepts tailored to the medication management needs of healthcare professionals in secondary care. This is a further development on our existing Product Set functionality which allows users to build a customised prescription using Ingredients, Routes and, where applicable, Base Formulations and Strength. Our new ‘orderable medication’ acts as a stepping stone to navigate to a number of pre-built order sentences, enabling rapid, intuitive prescribing in the fewest possible steps. Appropriate choices for administration and dispensing are also provided, further streamlining the medications management process.

FDBE is working with system suppliers and NHS Connecting for Health to integrate the Dictionary of Medicines and Devices with our secondary care module.

Drug-Food Interactions module

In addition to the existing Drug-Drug Interactions module, FDBE now provides warning messages relating to Drug-Food Interactions. This module will enable systems to make users aware of potential interactions with foods or drinks such as certain dairy products, fruit juices or salt substitutes.   

If you would like further information on the Product Release 2008, please contact Customer Services on 01392 440 111 or via e-mail at customerservices@firstdatabank.co.uk.