The Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (the Guild) developed the Pharmacode® system because of the potential benefits to the pharmaceutical sector from creating a unique identifier of pharmaceuticals.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Guild developed Pharmacode® to enable all pharmacies to purchase items from New Zealand pharmaceutical suppliers using a unique product identifier. Barcoded Pharmacode® identifiers were used for stock management, while ordering systems using PDE machines enabled automatic transmission of orders to wholesalers.
Adoption of Pharmacode identifiers by PHARMAC & Health Benefits Ltd
The proven benefits of Pharmacode® identifiers led to it being adopted by PHARMAC within their electronic Pharmaceutical Schedule and by Health Benefits Ltd for the reimbursement of subsidies. The benefits available today are brought about by advances in technology, however many of the gains have only been possible through the common use of Pharmacode® identifiers.
Pharmacode® is an SQL database managed by the Guild, hosted remotely on secure servers and backed-up daily. Each individual item and variation is given a unique Pharmacode® identifier. A Pharmacode® identifier cannot be used for any other item other than the item recorded in our database.
Suppliers must submit a Pharmacode® order form to have their items included in the Pharmacode® database. The supplier must ensure the details they submit to the Guild are accurate and truthful - suppliers are also required to inform the Guild of any updates to the statuses of items in the Pharmacode® database.
Pharmacode® is a registered trademark of the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand (Inc).
Please click on the link below to apply for a Pharmacode®