The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), part of the Australian Government's National Medicines Policy, provides affordable medicines for Australians.
Twelve times a year, the Monthly Publishing Systems (MPS) processes the changes to the PBS data to create what is known as the Schedule of Pharmaceutical Benefits. This “document” is an up-to-date reference for the community and industry for a government program costing approximately $900m per month.
The objective is for the data to be widely available in as many forms are possible including channels that act as an alternative to the government.
# a unique configuration of a form and strength for a brand of medicine that when prescribed as a treatment under approved circumstances will qualify for a financial subsidy. It is the resolution of these configurations that makes the data complex to publish.
The PBS XML source data is heavily contextual and is governed by a complex schema that changes often. PageSeeder's robust document model allows the MPS to gracefully accommodate data issues. In addition, the system is configured with a large number of tests designed to protect it from rogue data. This allows the system to be managed by domain experts with very little XML experience.
the monthly changes as a Summary or Comprehensive document.
early release of the monthly data under embargo to authorized users.