Where can we find information on medicine pricing?

[kym834]

Originally posted by @Propargyl in https://github.com/TheBreakingGoodProject/Essential-Medicines/issues/2#issuecomment-630762145

Re next stage, it seems like there are a lot of accessible databases with various types of pricing information (eg. http://www.haiweb.org/medicineprices/national-medicine-prices-sources.php). In theory you could scrape the information/use APIs if available. You could automate/schedule, and track prices over time, statistical analysis, etc.

There are also some websites that have compiled historical pricing data/allow analysis - some of these are commercial, which suggests implementation of the above might not be trivial.

[yaelago]

Thank you @Propargyl, this is an amazing resource. I think this next phase of looking at medicine pricing is a bit tricky because of the multiple sources, some of which are more reliable then others. So careful planning of this phase is in place. Do you think this phase could also be automated or is is too complex in your opinion?

[yaelago]

Some additional sources of medicine information and prices I have found include- https://mshpriceguide.org/en/home/ https://data.medicaid.gov/browse?limitTo=datasets @kym834 may have additional ideas

[kym834]

I also found this one. https://www.ibm.com/products/micromedex-red-book This one definitely has all the information I think we would ever need on drugs in the USA, plus more. It is a commercial product though with quite a hefty price tag attached. It does however have pricing histories which would be great to have!

I think the medicaid one @yaelago mentioned also has a lot fo the information we are interested in but the backdated pricing is limited to Nov 2013.

@propargyl, I think we could scrape the info for sure. But you're right given there are commercial products out there we may be missing something.

[Propargyl]

Depends on what you actually want to do with the data once you have it - merely recreate/package it, or publish further analysis. Either way, there would probably be legal implications with using data from a commercial source. So we may well be limited to government datasets.

This offers interesting insight into how some of pricing data is sourced: https://www.drugs.com/article/average-wholesale-price-awp.html (e.g. AWP either comes directly from the manufacturer, or is calculated by a drug data publisher [e.g. Red Book] based on information they source/purchase from manufacturers).

Would need to think carefully about: 1) exactly what type of price(s) you want to collect [e.g. average RRP/real cost/regulatory price limits to consumers may be the most 'telling']; 2) what you want to do with the data [e.g. should it be indexed to account for inflation, across countries]; and 3) accordingly, and what each type, where [e.g. encompassing any jurisdictional/geographical limitations] to source it from [e.g. government datasets]

[yaelago]

These are really good points @Propargyl, that we will have to discuss. Our main goals in collecting data about prices are- a. to see how acceptable the medicines are in terms of their price to various audiences in various countries b. to identify price hacks. But the data will also be part of an open database we are designing, so other people may use it in various other ways.

[borawl]

Anymore ideas regarding what type of database? Sql Server? And what about the front end for the application? Maybe I'm jumping ahead.

[alintheopen]

Hi @borawl - we've been thinking things through but definitely need some help from experts like you! We think it might be most useful to set up a database focused meeting. Would there be a good time for you in the next couple of weeks? Tagging #4 here too for reference. Cheers Alice