The National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS) is a research initiative established by federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Health in September 2001. It is a partnership between the PMPRB and the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
Its purpose is to provide policy makers and public drug plan managers with critical analyses of price, utilization and cost trends, so that Canada’s health care system has more comprehensive and accurate information on how prescription drugs are being used and on sources of cost pressures.
NPDUIS Database
The NPDUIS Database houses pan-Canadian information on public drug programs. It contains prescription claims-level data collected from publicly financed drug benefit programs, as well as formulary data, drug product information and information on public drug plan policies.
NPDUIS Advisory Committee
The PMPRB conducts its NPDUIS analytical reporting under the guidance of the NPDUIS Advisory Committee. The Committee advises and supports the PMPRB in establishing research priorities, in the development of research methodologies and in the interpretation of analytical results.
The Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from public drug plans in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Yukon, and Health Canada. It also includes observers from CIHI and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).