What happens when a price moves more than 20 percent
Large moves are held back until a person has checked them, and the table keeps its last confirmed figure while they wait.
When the collector sees a move of more than 20 percent in either direction, it does not publish the new figure straight away. The change goes into a review queue, and the previous confirmed price stays in the table until the review is done.
Why large moves are held
A jump of that size can be real: a pharmacy changes its pricing, or a dose comes back into stock at a different price. It can also be an error. The page layout changed and the collector read the wrong number, a fee was added to or removed from the listed total, or the site showed a different pack size. Publishing a wrong figure, even for an hour, would mislead anyone comparing providers, so a person looks first.
What the review checks
- The screenshot the collector saved at the moment of the change.
- The provider's page as it is now, to see whether the new figure still stands.
- Whether the change was in a consultation or delivery fee or in the medicine price itself.
- Community reports for that provider and dose from the same period.
What happens next
If the new price is confirmed, it is published and a thread opens in the community, named after the provider, medicine, dose and the size of the move, so members can discuss it. If the change was an error, the collector's adapter for that provider is fixed and the previous price stays. In both cases the cell keeps showing its last checked time, and a price that cannot be confirmed within 24 hours shows as "checking".
Sources
- The Dose Club, How The Dose Club checks pharmacy prices (article on this site)
This article is information, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber about your treatment.
- prices
- collector
- verification