First DataBank

What First DataBank does

First Databank (FDB) is a US healthcare information company that has built the most widely adopted integrated drug database in the United States, used by hospitals, pharmacies, health plans, EHR vendors, and other healthcare organizations to support medication decision-making at the point of care. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in South San Francisco, FDB operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hearst Health, the healthcare division of Hearst Corporation, alongside sister companies MCG, MHK, QGenda, Zynx Health, and Homecare Homebase. The platform reports 32,000+ retail pharmacy customers, 3,500+ non-federal hospitals, presence in 16 of the top 24 US health plans, and 77% penetration of US News & World Report Honor Roll Hospitals, with a reported 98.9% customer retention rate.

The core technology stack is anchored by FDB MedKnowledge, a curated medication knowledge base containing dosing, interactions, contraindications, clinical guidelines, and pricing data accumulated over 40+ years. This database is exposed through FDB Vela, a cloud-native, API-first ePrescribing network connecting prescribers, pharmacies, and payers with real-time prescription routing and eligibility services, hosted on Microsoft Azure and certified to HITRUST r2 standards. Surrounding the core database is a portfolio of modules — AlertSpace for alert fatigue management, Meducation for patient instructions in multiple languages, Prizm for medical device knowledge, OrderKnowledge for order strings, AnalySource for drug pricing analytics, Infusion Knowledge for smart pumps, Navigo for retail pharmacy guidance, Pharmacogenomic CDS, Targeted Medication Warnings, and a separate Pet MedKnowledge veterinary database. Most recently, FDB has layered AI capabilities on top of the data asset: FDB MedProof MCP, a Model Context Protocol server that lets external AI agents access medication knowledge; FDB Script Agent, which uses ambient listening to auto-queue prescription orders; and FDB VerifyAssist, which automates inpatient pharmacy order verification.

FDB monetizes through three revenue streams: recurring subscriptions to its drug databases by hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, and payers; OEM/embedded licensing arrangements with EHR vendors (athenahealth, NextGen, Greenway Health, MEDITECH, Medhost) and pharmacy system providers who embed FDB's data in their clinical software; and transaction-based fees on the Vela ePrescribing network. Distribution is primarily direct enterprise field sales to large healthcare organizations, channel partnerships through EHR and pharmacy system vendors who act as distributors, and a self-service API-first developer surface on Vela. The company sells into the US as its core market, with regional presence in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.

Name

First DataBank

Legal name

First Databank, Inc.

Website

https://fdbhealth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

First DataBank (FDB), a Hearst Health subsidiary, provides clinical drug knowledge and medication decision support databases and software to US hospitals, pharmacies, health plans, payers, and EHR vendors through its MedKnowledge database and Vela ePrescribing network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Drug Knowledge / Medication Decision Support Software

NAICS

Pharmacy Benefit Management and Other Third Party Administration of Insurance and Pension Funds (524292), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

PBM Technology Platforms (ePA/eRx/Real-Time Benefit Tools) (HLAEAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medication Pricing, Copay Assistance & Patient Financial Support Tools (HLACAKAN), FHIR/HL7 Data Repositories & Canonical Data Models (HLACAIAI)

Keywords

• Clinical drug database
• Medication decision support
• EPrescribing network
• EHR drug knowledge integration
• Pharmacy clinical decision support

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Drug Database Subscriptions: Healthcare organizations including hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, and payers pay recurring subscription fees to access FDB's drug databases and decision support tools. Pricing is typically based on organization size, user count, or transaction volume.
2. Embedded/OEM Licensing: EHR vendors, pharmacy system providers, and other healthcare IT companies license FDB's drug databases for embedding into their clinical software products. This includes per-user, per-transaction, or flat-fee licensing arrangements with technology partners.
3. ePrescribing Network Transactions: Transaction-based revenue from the FDB Vela ePrescribing network where prescription routing and related services generate per-transaction fees from pharmacies and payers.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

First Databank (FDB) develops and licenses comprehensive clinical drug knowledge databases and medication decision support software used by hospitals, pharmacies, payers, PBMs, and EHR/healthcare IT vendors. Its flagship FDB MedKnowledge database is embedded in clinical workflows for dosing, interaction, allergy, and contraindication checking, while FDB Vela provides a cloud-native ePrescribing network routing prescriptions and benefit information in real time. Newer AI-native offerings (FDB MedProof MCP, Script Agent, VerifyAssist) extend the platform into AI-agent-driven prescribing and pharmacy verification.

Product overview

FDB (First Databank) offers a comprehensive medication knowledge platform serving healthcare IT systems. The core offering includes MedKnowledge as the industry's most widely used integrated drug database in the United States, paired with FDB Vela, a cloud-native ePrescribing network supporting pharmacies, prescribers, and payers. The platform includes specialized modules for drug alert management (AlertSpace), patient medication instructions (Meducation), medical device knowledge (Prizm), and medication order strings (OrderKnowledge). Recent additions include AI-powered solutions: MedProof MCP (Model Context Protocol server for AI integration), Script Agent (prescription automation), and VerifyAssist (pharmacy verification assistant). The portfolio serves diverse healthcare settings including hospitals, retail pharmacies, payers, PBMs, and veterinary practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FDB Vela: Cloud-native ePrescribing network supporting pharmacies, prescribers, veterinarians, and payers with prescription routing and pharmacy connectivity.
• FDB MedProof MCP
• FDB Meducation
• FDB AlertSpace
• FDB Prizm
• FDB Navigo
• FDB Script Agent
• FDB VerifyAssist
• MedKnowledge

Products and services

• FDB MedKnowledge The most widely used integrated drug database in the United States, providing comprehensive medication decision support content including clinical modules, foundations, and drug pricing data for hospitals, health systems, pharmacies, payers, and EHR vendors.
• FDB Vela Cloud-native ePrescribing network connecting pharmacies, prescribers, and payers for real-time prescription routing, eligibility verification, and medication history access with HITRUST r2 certification.
• FDB Meducation Individualized, multilingual medication instructions and calendars designed to improve patient medication adherence and health literacy.
• FDB AlertSpace Drug alert management software that addresses medication alert fatigue by consolidating multiple safety alerts into single, actionable alerts based on the patient's most clinically relevant risk.
• FDB Prizm Medical device knowledge database that helps healthcare organizations improve clinical, financial, and operational outcomes related to medical device usage.
• FDB OrderKnowledge Medication order strings designed for ePrescribing and computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems to enable accurate prescribing workflows.
• FDB AnalySource Drug pricing analytics software providing analytics on top of FDB drug pricing data for payer, PBM, and provider decision support.
• FDB Infusion Knowledge IV medications and parameters database for use within smart pumps, supporting safe medication administration in hospitals.
• Pet MedKnowledge Veterinary drug database supporting commerce and dispensing, enabling ePrescribing in veterinary practices.
• FDB Navigo Next-generation clinical guidance platform for retail pharmacy settings, providing patient-specific medication guidance to reduce alert fatigue and improve dispensing decisions.
• FDB MedProof MCP AI integration layer providing a Model Context Protocol server for trusted, clinically validated medication knowledge, enabling AI agents and applications to access standardized medication intelligence.
• FDB Script Agent AI-enabled prescription automation agent for ambulatory care settings that uses ambient listening technology to auto-queue structured prescription orders directly into EHRs for clinician review.
• FDB VerifyAssist Inpatient pharmacy order verification assistant that surfaces critical drug-specific criteria against patient data at the point of verification to reduce pharmacist burden.
• FDB MedKnowledge Explorer Pre-built interface allowing easy viewing of updated MedKnowledge drug content for clinical reference.
• FDB Targeted Medication Warnings Actionable medication guidance providing more meaningful, patient-specific medication warnings at the most appropriate time based on each patient's unique clinical context.
• FDB Pharmacogenomic CDS Evidence-based drug-gene clinical decision support within the workflow for personalized medication therapy.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98.9% customer retention rate demonstrates strong customer loyalty and satisfaction
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability9 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• PhotoncoreTechnology or IntegrationPhoton collaborates with FDB on the Vela ePrescribing Network, integrating FDB's medication decision support capabilities with Photon's healthcare connectivity solutions to enable real-time ePrescribing and medication history access for prescribers and pharmacies.
• ArterastrategicTechnology or IntegrationArtera utilizes FDB MedProof MCP (Model Context Protocol) to integrate FDB's medication knowledge into its AI-powered patient communication platform, enabling AI agents to access accurate medication information for patient engagement and clinical communication workflows.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Azure provides the cloud infrastructure hosting for FDB Vela ePrescribing network, enabling scalable, secure, and reliable cloud-native medication decision support services for healthcare organizations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• DrFirst: DrFirst is a healthcare technology vendor focused on ePrescribing, medication history, and clinical messaging for ambulatory and acute care, competing directly with FDB Vela in the ePrescribing network and medication decision support layer across outpatient and inpatient settings.
• Arrive Health (formerly RxRevu): Arrive Health provides real-time prescription benefit, price transparency, and medication decision support within EHR workflows, overlapping with FDB's payer and pharmacy offerings (AnalySource, Vela) particularly in the consumer-facing drug-cost transparency space.
• Komodo Health: Komodo Health aggregates healthcare data and offers AI-driven clinical and commercial intelligence used by life sciences and payers, comparable to FDB in the sense of monetizing curated healthcare data assets - though focused on claims and patient journey analytics rather than medication reference data.

Others

• MCG (Hearst Health): MCG is a sibling Hearst Health portfolio company providing evidence-based clinical decision support for care planning, utilization management, and hospital workflows. While not a drug-data competitor, MCG is co-distributed into the same hospital enterprise accounts, enabling cross-sell and shared infrastructure synergies.

Direct peers

• Elsevier Clinical Solutions (ClinicalPath / ClinicalKey): Elsevier competes with FDB in clinical decision support and drug reference content, with ClinicalPath focused on oncology pathways and ClinicalKey providing drug monographs and clinical evidence within hospital and pharmacy workflows.
• Surescripts: Surescripts is the dominant US ePrescribing network - a direct competitor to FDB Vela for routing prescriptions, delivering real-time pharmacy benefit information, and connecting prescribers, pharmacies, and payers on a transaction-based revenue model.
• Wolters Kluwer Clinical Drug Information (Lexicomp / Medi-Span): The most direct competitor to FDB MedKnowledge. Wolters Kluwer's Lexicomp and Medi-Span are the other leading curated drug databases embedded into hospital EHRs, pharmacy systems, and ambulatory platforms, competing for the same embedded licensing and subscription contracts that anchor FDB's revenue.
• IBM Micromedex: IBM Micromedex is one of the longest-standing drug reference and clinical decision support products, used in hospitals and pharmacy systems for drug interaction checking, IV compatibility, and evidence-based medication guidance - competing head-to-head with FDB MedKnowledge and AlertSpace.

Broad incumbents

• Oracle Health (formerly Cerner): Oracle Health provides the second-largest US hospital EHR platform with embedded clinical decision support and medication reference capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose CDS strategy either embeds third-party drug content (e.g., FDB/Multum) or substitutes with native modules.
• Epic Systems (Best Practice Advisories / Order Sets): Epic, the largest US hospital EHR vendor, has built-in medication decision support, formulary, and order set functionality that can either compete with or distribute FDB content depending on customer configuration. Represents both the largest channel partner and the most significant competitive threat.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/fdbfirstdatabank
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/firstdatabank
• Xx.com/FDB_US

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First DataBank