Medication Dispense Quantity

Pharmacologic agents used in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

Data Element
Medication Dispense Quantity Description The amount of medication dispensed or to be dispensed.

Comment

Submitted by EmoryHealthcare on 2026-04-15

Emory Healthcare comments on Medications and Dispense Quantity

For all data elements within this data class, EHC notes the importance of differentiating between care contexts (e.g., inpatient, ambulatory, retail dispense), as dispensing can vary across care areas. We also recommend including standardized unit(s) of measurement.

EHC requests additional clarity beyond the data element definition of "The amount of medication dispensed or to be dispensed", as dispensing can vary across care areas. For instance, does this data element refer to retail dispense? If so, EHC notes that this is a standard field in ambulatory prescriptions, but that dispense quantity is, at times, a calculated value. The definition which would provide greatest value would be the actual count of units dispensed with unit of measure included. That will support calculation of total dose, which is especially useful in the prescription of opioids and calculation of MEDD, for example.

Submitted by david_rocha on 2026-04-13

SNOMED CT Has pack size attribute

SNOMED CT has 2 attributes: 1 to represent amount or quantity of the drug present in the package "has pack size" and the other attribute is "has pack size unit" for the units of the amount or quantity present in the package.

Has pack size (attribute)

SCTID: 1142142004

1142142004 | Has pack size (attribute) |

en Has pack size (attribute)

en Has pack size

en Attribute used to specify the amount or quantity of clinical drug present in the package.

Has pack size unit (attribute)

SCTID: 774163005

774163005 | Has pack size unit (attribute) |

en Has pack size unit (attribute)

en Has pack size unit

en Attribute used to specify the units for the amount or quantity of clinical drug present in the package.

Submitted by pwilson@ncpdp.org on 2026-04-04

NCPDP Comment

NCPDP recommends ONC clarify their intent with Medication Dispense Quantity. The quantity dispensed and the quantity to be dispensed are two different concepts that should be referenced separately. The amount of medication to be dispensed, alternately phrased as the prescribed dispense quantity, is a single value associated with each prescription and is appropriate for the Medications Data Class. The amount of medication to be dispensed does not have a one-to-one association with a prescription because a prescription with multiple refills will have multiple amounts to be dispensed. If ONC wishes to capture the amount of medication dispensed, that should be captured through a new data class capturing dispense information.

Submitted by csnewman on 2026-03-05

Distinction between "dose" data elements

It is unclear the distinction between the new Medication Dispense Quantity and the existing Dose and Dose Unit of Measure data elements. Please clarify the distinction between these. As well, it is unclear why the existing "dose" data elements have been added as distinct (but presumably related) data elements while the new "dose" data element is a single data element presumably expected to include both an amount and unit.

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