Significant changes to dm+d for lubricant gels and sodium hyaluronate/synovial fluid
Posted in News
Up to March 2017, all items that were included in the ‘England & Wales Drug Tariff section IX A – Lubricant gels’ were listed under the single Virtual Medicines Product (VMP) of ‘Lubricant Gels’.
This incorporated eleven different Actual Medicines Products (AMP) and, more than double, number of packs in this single descriptor. This made it impossible to compare the use of the different products by cost or unit.
In the 6th March 2017 dm+d release, individual VMP of the ‘generic [brand name]’ type was introduced for each of the products. All of the drug lines that included a brand name have been remapped to the corresponding AMP.
It is no longer possible to map items described as ‘lubricating gel’ or ‘catheter lubricating gel’ to a valid concept in dm+d. Trusts are encouraged to state the name of the brand used for all lubricating gels for accurate reporting.
Similarly, the various injectable formulations of sodium hyaluronate/synovial fluid for intra-articular use have been separated into individual VMP of the ‘generic [brand name]’. For unambiguous reporting and benchmarking, it is strongly recommended to use brand names to identify products.