ProPublica Prescriber Checkup provides prescribing data from Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, known as Part D. The data for 2011 includes nearly 1.2 billion prescriptions by 1.6 million doctors, nurses, and other providers. The database lists about 364,000 of those providers who wrote 50 or more prescriptions for at least one drug that year. About three-fourths went to patients 65 and older; the rest were for disabled patients.

Users can search by prescriber, city, or zip code to get information on prescribers such as drugs prescribed that present special risks and costs of prescribing. The information on that prescriber can be compared to other prescribers of the same speciality in that state.

Users can also compare prescriptions and drug costs by state by using an interactive map. Additionally, information is presented on the drugs with the highest total Medicare Part D claims.

Medicare Part D Prescribing Data for the year 2011 can be downloaded from the ProPublica data store for free.

http://projects.propublica.org/checkup/

Are you using this data source? Share your experience with it by leaving a reply below!