Product codes
A product code is an identifier for a product or a specific package. When product data moves between manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacies, databases and software, each system needs to recognise the right item. Product codes make that possible.
A code is a key to a product record. The digits themselves usually do not describe what a product contains or what it is used for. A different strength, form or pack size may have its own code. National and international systems developed at different times, so the same product can have both a local pharmacy identifier and an international trade item number.
ARTG ID is the number of an entry in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. It points to a therapeutic product’s entry in Australia’s public register. A GTIN identifies a trade item or package; an ARTG ID serves a different purpose.
A PBS item code identifies a medicine as listed in the Schedule of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, published by the Australian Government Department of Health. The code covers the supply conditions as well: strength, form, maximum quantity, number of repeats and any restrictions. One brand can therefore have several item codes, for example for different maximum quantities. An item code has four or five digits followed by a check letter, such as 5317W.
CTPP stands for Containered Trade Product Pack, the most specific concept in the Australian Medicines Terminology (AMT), which is part of SNOMED CT-AU. A CTPP describes a branded pack down to its container, for example "Amoxil 500 mg capsule, 20, blister pack". Clinical and dispensing systems use it to record exactly which pack was supplied. The AMT is updated every month, based on PBS and TGA information.
GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is the international GS1 identifier for a trade item. The digits are usually printed below a barcode. EAN-13 is the barcode symbol used to represent a 13-digit GTIN. People often call the digits themselves an “EAN code”, but GTIN is the number and EAN is the scannable representation on the pack. Barcode history began with UPC in the US in 1973; the European EAN organisation was founded in Brussels in 1977.
In Australia, each identifier comes from a different source. The TGA keeps the ARTG, the Department of Health publishes the PBS Schedule, the AMT describes each pack as a CTPP, and the supplier assigns the GTIN through GS1. None of them alone tells software everything about a pack: the ARTG ID says which registered product it is, the PBS item code under which conditions it is subsidised, the CTPP which exact pack it is, and the GTIN which barcode is scanned.
Medipim links these four identifiers in one product record, together with descriptions, images and other product data. Pharmacy software, wholesalers and webshops then work from one source instead of matching registers themselves.
Codes used in other markets, such as CNK, PZN and CIP 13, are compared on our international product codes page.
Sources: TGA: about the ARTG · PBS: definitions · AIHW: PBS item code · Australian Digital Health Agency: CTPP reference set · GS1: GTIN and EAN
No. An ARTG ID points to an entry in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. A GTIN identifies a trade item or package. An ARTG ID is not a barcode for a retail pack.
Because each answers a different question about the same pack: which registered product it is, under which conditions it is subsidised, which exact pack it is and which barcode is scanned. Software that dispenses, claims or sells a product needs several of them at once. Medipim keeps them together in one product record.
Usually not. A code helps a system find the right product. Composition, strength, dosage form, description and other characteristics are held in the product data linked to it.
Yes. A product may have a national pharmacy identifier as well as a GTIN on its packaging. Available codes depend on the product and market.
No. An identifier by itself is not an approval or quality assessment. Its meaning depends on the code system and the responsible authority.
Manufacturers submit their product information once. Medipim checks and processes it, so pharmacies, wholesalers, online shops and software providers can immediately work with usable data. No one has to look up, photograph, enter or correct the same information over and over again. That saves time across the entire supply chain.
Pharmacies and healthcare professionals · Software companies and webshops · Wholesalers
Manufacturers and brands · Wholesalers · Data sources and partners
