Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: 2015 Part D Prescriber: The Part D Prescriber Public Use File has information on prescription drugs prescribed by individual physicians and other health care providers and paid for under the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program. Data can be analyzed many different ways, including location, specialty, drug name/generic, total claims, cost, drug count and more.
The Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool, updated in November 2017, is an interactive tool that shows geographic comparisons, at the state, county, and ZIP code levels, of de-identified Medicare Part D opioid prescription claims – prescriptions written and then submitted to be filled – within the United States. The mapping tool presents Medicare Part D opioid prescribing rates for 2015 as well as the change in opioid prescribing rates from 2013 to 2015. New for this release is additional information on extended-release opioid prescribing rates as well as spatial analyses to identify “hot spots” or clusters.
Percent of New York State nursing home residents on antipsychotics; over state average: Newsday has pieced together a terrific database of New York metro nursing homes using data from state and federal databases to map where nursing home residents are likely overmedicated. Deficiencies cited by the state for the past 3 years are also indicated. This is a great interactive tool for local reporters to use for follow up and further investigation — and a good model for other media as an example on how to localize similar data.
This database from the Dartmouth Atlas Project provides a wealth of information for journalists and researchers to gain insight into prescribing patterns, use and costs by city, state, or region. As the report accompanying this database notes, wide variations are seen in the use of certain high risk drugs and low cost more proven therapies, with providers in some communities routinely prescribing many more high-risk drugs for patients than average. Number of prescriptions filled, overall Rx spending, and breakdowns of high, discretionary, and common, low-risk drugs are quantified, as are brand name vs. generic drugs. Information here is from 2010 only.