Methodology

RxFinder combines data from eight government sources, each updated on its own schedule:

CMS NADAC (weekly) provides the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost, the benchmark price pharmacies actually pay for generic and brand drugs. We track current prices plus 6-month and 12-month historical snapshots per NDC.

FDA Orange Book (monthly) provides patent, exclusivity, and ANDA (generic application) data. We deduplicate ANDA records to count unique manufacturers per drug, not raw application numbers.

openFDA NDC Directory (ongoing) provides the master drug catalog including generic names, brand names, routes, dosage forms, and drug classifications.

CMS Part D Formulary (quarterly) covers 329 Medicare Part D plans. We calculate tier distribution and restriction rates (prior authorization, step therapy, quantity limits) across all surveyed plans.

CMS Part D Spending (annual) provides total spending, claims volume, and beneficiary counts for drugs covered under Medicare Part D from 2019 through 2024.

FDA Drug Shortages (daily) tracks active and resolved shortages with reasons and affected manufacturers.

openFDA Enforcement (ongoing) provides recall and enforcement action history with classification levels.

HRSA 340B OPAIS (monthly) provides covered entity and contract pharmacy data for 340B program analysis. Where OPAIS data is unavailable, we use an entity-type affinity model to estimate 340B exposure by drug class.

All data processing is automated and logged. No manual adjustments are made to pricing, formulary, or utilization data. Drug descriptions are generated from drug class templates and FDA label data, then reviewed for accuracy.