NCPDP SCRIPT basics (e-prescribing)

NCPDP SCRIPT is the US e-prescribing standard: XML transactions exchanged between prescriber systems, pharmacies, and intermediary networks. A prescriber sends a NewRx to start a prescription; renewals, cancellations, and fill notifications each have their own transaction type. The version federally named for e-prescribing under Medicare Part D is SCRIPT 2017071. The specification itself is licensed by NCPDP to its members, so this page covers the concepts, not the transaction structure.

Steward	NCPDP (National Council for Prescription Drug Programs)
Format	XML transactions over intermediary networks
Common transactions	NewRx (new prescription), RxRenewalRequest and response, CancelRx, RxFill (fill status)
Named version	SCRIPT 2017071 (Medicare Part D e-prescribing)
Licensing	The specification and its schemas are NCPDP member material; this page reproduces none of it

Example

A new prescription, conceptually:

  Prescriber EHR --- NewRx ------------------> Pharmacy system
  Pharmacy system --- Status/Verify ---------> Prescriber EHR
  Pharmacy system --- RxFill (dispensed) ----> Prescriber EHR   (when enabled)

A renewal starts in the opposite direction:

  Pharmacy system --- RxRenewalRequest ------> Prescriber EHR
  Prescriber EHR  --- RxRenewalResponse -----> Pharmacy system

Both flows ride an intermediary network that routes by pharmacy and
prescriber directory identifiers (NPI, NCPDP Provider ID).

Hand-authored concept diagram; transaction names are public knowledge, and no licensed SCRIPT structure or field content appears here. In Pidgeon, NCPDP generation is closed by default and opens only when a member supplies the SCRIPT package (pidgeon data install ncpdp-script --accept-license); pidgeon capabilities reports NCPDP as license-required until then.

Validation context

Strict and compatibility validation notes land here with the phase-1 data export.

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pidgeon capabilities

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claude mcp add pidgeon -- npx -y @pidgeonhealth/mcp

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