Elsevier First to Publish NADAC Price Type from CMS

PHILADELPHIA, December 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Elsevier's Gold Standard is the first drug database to include CMS's survey-based pricing, making it the most comprehensive source for drug price benchmarks

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today that, effective November 30, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) survey-based price type, National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) is included for all available drugs where applicable in Elsevier's Gold Standard Drug Database and web-based solutions, ProspectoRx and RxPrice Verify.

CMS invested in NADAC, which is based on a monthly voluntary survey of randomly selected pharmacies nationwide. NADAC was created in order to provide Medicaid agencies with a better estimate of prices paid by pharmacies for drugs, which would be based upon actual drug purchases. The NADAC file is updated on a weekly basis and each month a new survey file is posted to reflect findings from the previous month's survey results. Elsevier publishes both the weekly price type file and monthly file.

"NADAC is another option for a new drug price benchmark that our customers, and the industry as a whole, may decide to use," said Kay Morgan, Vice President of Drug Products and Industry Standards, Elsevier. "We at Elsevier strive to provide the most accurate and continuously updated data for our users."

Elsevier's Gold Standard Drug Database pricing file is the only compendia that continues to publish Average Wholesale Price (AWP), along with several other price types: Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC), Direct Price (DP), Federal Supply Schedule (FSS), CMS Federal Upper Limit (CMS-FUL), Maximum Allowable Cost (MAC), and Predictive Acquisition Cost (PAC). Elsevier's drug pricing database delivers the most up-to-the-minute data available via web-based solutions, ProspectoRx and RxPrice Verify.

For more information about Elsevier's Gold Standard, visit http://www.goldstandard.com.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, helping research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact
Christopher Capot
Director, Corporate Relations, Elsevier
+1-212-633-3164
c.capot@elsevier.com