The Medi-Cal POS NCPDP Pharmacy Transaction Specifications, Third Party Vendors (Dial-Up and Leased-Line) document has been updated to conform with National Council for Prescription Drug Programs ( NCPDP) standards for the National Provider Identifier (NPI). The submitter ID must not be combined with the Service Provider ID in field 201-B1. This field must contain only the NPI. The submitter ID must be entered in field 110-AK (Software Vendor/Certification ID) which is a 10-byte field. Bytes 1-7 of this field must contain the Software Vendor/Certification ID. Bytes 8-10 must contain the submitter ID (last three bytes of the field). The Submitter ID will no longer be returned to third party vendors.

The sample test cases in Section 5 of the specifications have been updated to reflect these changes.

These changes will take effect on April 21, 2008. Beginning May 24, 2008, the submitter ID must be entered only in field 110-AK (Software Vendor/Certification ID). Providers may enter the submitter ID either in field 201-B1 (Service Provider ID) or in field 110-AK (Software Vendor/Certification ID) through May 23, 2008.