Welcome To OPINIONS

Community pharmacists need to bill public and private drug plans for products and services that do not have Drug Identification Numbers (DIN's). Pharmacists use Assigned Product Identification Numbers sometimes referred to as pseudo-DIN's, or more often referred to as PIN's, so as to identify products and services that do not have DIN's and for which they need to bill an insurer.

OPINIONS was created by the APSI staff in consultation with many insurers and is available to pharmacists, insurers, and claims processors anywhere, anytime. Users can identify a product by it's PIN or UPC code or locate the PIN for a product using a multi faceted search engine. Each PIN corresponds to a specific product and package size, or a specific service.

OPINIONS is a pay-to-access service, with access starting at $145/year for single user access, and PINs starting at $27.50/ea.

The web-based pseudo-DIN database called OPINIONS, which stands for the Online Product Identification Number Index of Nova Scotia, was started in June of 2003 by Atlantic Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (APSI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia (PANS). OPINIONS provides pharmacists with an easy to use, searchable database of products and services that have been assigned Pseudo-DINS (PINS) which are used by payers to reimburse pharmacies for products and services.

Note: Active subscriptions to APSI include access to OPINIONS.

Anyone may subscribe to the Online Product Identification Number Index Of Nova Scotia (OPINIONS).

If your pharmacy has an active APSI subscription then access to OPINIONS is included with your subscription. To activate your OPINIONS subscription, if you have not already done so, click the "Sign up for an account" button above. Once this process is complete you will receive confirmation that your account has been approved. You can now login to OPINIONS using the username and password you chose when creating this account. Once logged into OPINIONS scroll down in the page to where you can see "APSI Account" and click the "Link Account" button. This will load a page asking for the pharmacy's APSI username and password. Once you have entered your APSI username and password click "Link Account" again. You will now have access to OPINIONS.

Notes:

• An APSI username and password was assigned to you when you subscribed to APSI and is required in order to activate your OPINIONS account. The APSI username and password is totally separate from the username and password you created when signing up for the OPINIONS account.
• If you do not intend to renew your APSI subscription for July 1 you will, even if you activate OPINIONS now as part of your current APSI subscription, have to acquire access to OPINIONS for July 1 onward.

Don't have an APSI Subscription?

If your pharmacy does not have an active APSI subscription you may still subscribe to OPINIONS by clicking the "Sign up for an account" button above. Once this process is complete you will receive confirmation that your account has been approved. You can now login to OPINIONS using the username and password you chose when creating this account. Once logged into OPINIONS scroll down in the page to where you can see "Subscription" and click the "Add Subscription" button. Choose the type of subscription you require and click the "Proceed to Checkout" button. OPINIONS subscriptions run from July 1 to June 30 and are prorated daily.