RX-Info Revised Defined Daily Doses

Posted in News

At the end of November 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a new and revised list of ATC codes and DDDs (Defined Daily Doses) which are used in the Rx-info system.

As a result, Rx-info will need to update the underlying data used by Define and Refine to bring it in line with the new information.

The most noticeable change might be for those working in antimicrobial stewardship as the DDD for several commonly used antibiotics has been increased. As Define and Refine calculate DDDs actively this will affect all data within the system both before and after the update, and will result in an apparent decrease in the number of DDDs used for these items, but with no effect on the underlying values.

After consideration and feedback from trusts we have agreed to release the update on the 22nd of April to allow trusts to analyse the final quarter of antimicrobial consumption data using the system before the change occurs.

The changes are for antimicrobial products are:

Also, within the new ATC list is a specific code for cannabidiol used to treat epilepsy and this has been assigned to the special order oral formulations on dm+d.