Method, apparatus, and computer program product for estimating inventory based on distribution data

A method comprising:

• receiving, from a prescriber computer, an indication of an order request comprising at least (a) a product identifier and (b) at least one merchant attribute describing at least one merchant at which a product is requested to be obtained;
• accessing distribution data relating to the distribution of the product to at least one merchant associated with the at least one merchant attribute;
• accessing prescription claims received via a communication interface and associated with the product identifier and the at least one merchant;
• generating estimated inventory information, based on the distribution data and the prescription claims associated with the product identifier and the at least one merchant, wherein the estimated inventory information describes an estimated inventory of the product of at least one merchant associated with the at least one merchant attribute;
• transmitting a message, comprising at least the estimated inventory information and cost information, to the prescriber computer;
• causing display of the message at the prescriber computer;
• receiving, from the prescriber computer, an indication of a selected merchant to which to route the order request;
• and
• in response to the indication of the selected merchant, transmitting the order request to a pharmacy computer associated with the selected merchant.

A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions to:

• receive, from a prescriber computer, an indication of an order request comprising at least (a) a product identifier and (b) at least one merchant attribute describing at least one merchant at which a product is requested to be obtained;
• access distribution data relating to the distribution of the product to at least one merchant associated with the at least one merchant attribute;
• access prescription claims received via a communication interface and associated with the product identifier and the at least one merchant;
• generate estimated inventory information, based on the distribution data and the prescription claims associated with the product identifier and the at least one merchant, wherein the estimated inventory information describe an estimated inventory of the product of at least one merchant associated with the at least one merchant attribute;
• transmit a message, comprising at least the estimated inventory information, to the prescriber computer;
• cause display of the message at the prescriber computer;
• receive, from the prescriber computer, an indication of a selected merchant to which to route the order request;
• and
• in response to the indication of the selected merchant, transmit the order request to a pharmacy computer associated with the selected merchant.