Health Products Portal

PBS public data API

There is now a public version of the API, that is open for access without registration via the HPP. Guidance on this can be found in our article on Accessing PBS public and embargo data via the API.

The differences are outlined below:

• ​Only the current schedule and those published in the past 12 months are available. Future schedules are not available within the PBS public data API.
• The API is rate-limited to one request per 20 seconds.

Documentation

The developer portal documentation can now be accessed without myGovID and RAM authentication via https://data-api-portal.health.gov.au/

The developer portal documentation has been updated to reflect the v3 changes.

Updated versions of the following documentation is available in our article on Accessing PBS public and embargo data via the API:

• PBS DDS - Data Dictionary 
• API Data Model
• PBS DDS – PBS Text File generation process

API pagination

The API can now support pagination so that large requests can be downloaded in pages/chunks. This requires additional “page” and “limit” parameters to be included in API requests, as detailed in the developer portal

Bugfixes and minor enhancements

item-increases

• The item-increases endpoint has been removed from the API. This data is administrative data, used internally in government processes and is not required for any prescribing or dispensing use-case.

items

• The typo in field name “saftey_net_resup_rule_cnt_ind” in the items endpoint has been fixed. The field is now called “safety_net_resup_rule_cnt_ind”
• The following fields have been added to the items endpoint:
  • Policy_applied_imdq60_base_flag – items with a 30-day dispensing frequency that have a 60-day dispensing frequency equivalent elsewhere in the PBS. See https://www.health.gov.au/cheaper-medicines
  • Policy_applied_imdq60_flag – items with a 60-day dispensing frequency. See https://www.health.gov.au/cheaper-medicines
  • Policy_applied_bio_sim_up_flag – items that are part of the Biosimilar Uptake Drivers initiative. See https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/general/biosimilars
  • Policy_applied_indig_phar_flag – items specifically to help with the health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. See https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/publication/factsheets/shared/pbs-listings-for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people
  • continued_dispensing_emergency - The Continued Dispensing Emergency Measure (CDEM), a provision has been added to facilitate implementation of a future extraordinary CD measure, should the Government consider one to be necessary

restrictions

• The following field has been added to the restrictions endpoint:
  • Variation_rule_applied – restrictions that include a variation rule

prescribing-text

• The following fields have been added to the prescribing-text endpoint:
  • Apply_to_increase_mq_flag – prescribing text that include the ability for a prescriber to apply to increase the default maximum quantity of a medicine
  • Apply_to_increase_nr_flag - prescribing text that include the ability for a prescriber to apply to increase the default number of repeats of a medicine

summary-of-changes

• Several bug fixes and changes to the formatting of the summary-of-changes endpoint:
  • Fix syntax in the sql_statement field
  • Addition of a previous_detail, and change_detail field – see data dictionary for details