How to Find a NCPDP for a Local Pharmacy

The National Council for Prescription Drug Program, or NCPDP, is a nonprofit organization that develops comprehensive standards for every sector of the pharmacy services industry. All licensed pharmacies are assigned a seven-digit number known as the NCPDP Provider ID. The NCPDP maintains an online database of more than 70,000 pharmacies. The pharmacies upload profiles that contain detailed, up-to-date information about the pharmacy. Professionals throughout the pharmaceutical industry utilize the database such as health plan providers, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy vendors.

Instructions

• 1

  Call the NCPDP at 480-477-1000. The organization offers an online database called dataQ. You must have a subscription to search the database. Speak with a representative about purchasing a subscription.

• 2

  Type your name and password into the login boxes on the NCPDP dataQ website. Access the dataQ "Search for a Prescriber" page.

• 3

  Choose a search type. Two search options are available: geographic and identifier search. Input the provider's, or pharmacist's, first and last name and state for the geographic search. Type the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, number, Unique Physician Identification Number, or UPIN, or National Provider Identifier, or NPI, number for the identifier search. Click "Search." Both searches return a list containing provider names and locations.

• 4

  Click the provider name/address. A detailed profile of the provider appears. The profile contains information such as the NCPDP Provider ID, contact information, refill number and Medicaid number.