PDR and HCNN: Now One Drug Information Service 

The Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR) has merged with the Health Care Notification Network (HCNN), the only service that provides electronic delivery of important FDA-required drug Alerts to physicians. The American College of Emergency Physicians is working with the HCNN to encourage our physician members to enroll in this important drug-information service, which is provided to physicians and other subscribers at no charge.

The 2010 PDR will ship soon, and you will notice several changes designed to improve physician access to current information, including:

1. A letter from the FDA inside the front cover of the PDR announcing their new Safe Use initiative.
2. The promotion of the HCNN as part of the PDR service.
3. A pocket inside the front cover of the PDR is designed for easy storage and access to PDR updates, which will be sent to you every other month and provide updated product information, including recalls and Box Warnings. Full product information will be hosted at www.pdr.net.

Access to updated full product labels as well as bi-monthly updates with links to PDR.net are important features of the 2010 PDR. Information in these labels is the standard to which physicians are held in professional liability actions – and the PDR is routinely and uniquely cited as the source of this label information.

The combined PDR-HCNN service provides prescribers with FDA-required Alerts via the HCNN, monthly specialty-specific clinical updates, and the 64th edition of the PDR with regular insert updates – an end-to-end solution that fulfills prescribers’ need for drug information on both a reference and real-time basis.

As stated by Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director of Drug Evaluation & Research at the FDA, the primary goal of the HCNN is to minimize "information errors" by ensuring that "prescribers have access to the right information at the point of prescribing."

To ensure that you continue to receive your annual PDR and specialty-specific drug safety Alerts from the HCNN, please confirm/update your current contact information on the verification form that accompanies your 2010 PDR. Please be sure to note your ACEP affiliation on the PDR form. 

If you have not yet received your 2010 PDR or to sign up for the HCNN service and receive electronic drug Alerts, please contact the PDR Network at 1-800-232-7379 or hcnn@pdr.net.

To support patient safety and limit professional liability, all physicians need immediate access to accurate drug information. ACEP is a strong supporter of the HCNN and the PDR Network. We encourage all of our members to enroll.

HCNN is governed by a non-profit board that protects physician identity and privacy. Physician information stored in the HCNN, including e-mails, will not be used for any other purpose or sold or disclosed to any third parties. There is no advertising or spam. The service is funded through users fees paid for by the FDA, manufacturers or others whose alerts are sent out via the HCNN and who currently pay to have these alerts send via U.S. mail. Physicians’ Information will not be disclosed to the FDA, manufacturers or other HCNN users.