The latest pharmacy management system company to gain SIGIS certification for IIAS is SRS, located in Caro, Mich. The company’s PKonPOS system now has the IIAS-certified product file and SIGIS-certified software to handle flexible-spending accounts. The company’s PKonPOS system is fully integrated with its PKonRx system. According to Regional Sales Manager, Bradd Mattson, this integration streamlines the checkout process.

SIGIS, the special interest group for IIAS standards, has topped 5,000 members in just 17 months. The group was established to create a voluntary standard to meet the IRS requirements for an inventory information approval system (IIAS), for FSA and HRA debit-card transactions.

The IRS has allowed an exemption from the IIAS requirements for merchants whose prior-year sales of eligible healthcare items represented at least 90% of their total sales. Known as the 90% rule, this exemption must be applied for on a store-by-store basis. In addition to certifying IIAS-compliant merchants, SIGIS has developed a procedure for those qualifying for the 90% exemption to self-register with SIGIS. SIGIS maintains an updated list of both certified merchants and 90%-exempt merchants. The organization’s Web site, www.sig-is.org, has more information and the forms necessary to join SIGIS and to begin the certification or exemption process. “Our systems and our standard are in place and we stand ready to help any and all remaining merchants get their system certified or registered as exempt,” says the SIGIS certification committee chair, Chris Byrd of Evolution Benefits.

The IRS ruling for IIAS went into effect on July 1.