First Data Bank (FDB) is a commercial medication knowledge vendor that Partners has chosen as the standard for medication terminology. The implementation of FDB’s National Drug Data File Plus product (NDDF Plus) is part of the foundation that is required for the vision of Medication Informatics and Decision Support at Partners. This vision includes the availability of a larger breadth of knowledge from which Partners can derive its medication content and knowledge. It also alleviates some of Partners maintenance of its own medication terminology and knowledge base. While Partners will continue to customize its content, content such as packaged product availability will be handled by FDB.

Currently, Partners uses only a small segment of the NDDF files provided by FDB. This project is the first step in Partner’s larger use of this comprehensive knowledge base. Once the NDDF data is fully loaded and process are in place to maintain the database, other projects can begin creating paths towards larger uses of this data. Project such as Medication Mapping and Interchange Data Layer (MMIDL) and the Medication Knowledge Data Warehouse as well as multiple Partners initiatives are dependent upon the completion of this critical project.