dispense reference

disp_ref

pharmacy

Updated 5/15/2026

Definition

The external pointer for a medication distribution. Used in healthcare data management and clinical workflows. This field is commonly used in electronic health records (EHR), healthcare information systems (HIS), and clinical data warehouses for dispense management and reporting.

Standard Abbreviation

disp_ref

Database Usage

-- Example column naming
CREATE TABLE claims (
  clm_id VARCHAR(50),
  disp_ref VARCHAR(50),  -- dispense reference (max 50 chars)
  ...
);

-- Example in SELECT
SELECT
  clm_id,
  disp_ref as dispense_reference
FROM claims;

Common uses in healthcare data

PBM claims adjudication and drug utilization review
Controlled substance monitoring and DEA compliance
Pharmacy data warehouse and ETL pipeline design
Prior authorization and step therapy workflows
Medicare Part D reporting and CMS submissions

Example database column name

ISO-11179 snake_case standard

-- Recommended column name
disp_ref

-- Example DDL
CREATE TABLE healthcare_data (
  record_id   VARCHAR(50)   NOT NULL,
  disp_ref     VARCHAR(50),  -- dispense reference (max 50 chars)
  created_dt  TIMESTAMP     NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Column names follow the ISO-11179 naming convention: lowercase, underscore-separated, using the standard abbreviation as a prefix where applicable.

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