System and methods for providing medication selection guidance

A system and associated methods provide medication selection guidance at the time of a prescription event for a given patient, or at other times, such as when changes occur in the patient's healthcare plan coverage. In one medication selection guidance method, information is received regarding a clinician-preferred medication prescription related to a selected patient, and based on at least one record of the selected patient, a specific information set is retrieved. For instance, the specific information set may include medications the patient is currently taken, healthcare plan coverage for the patient, or other types of information. Then, other medications that can be prescribed to the patient as alternatives to the clinician-preferred medication prescription may be determined based on the specific information set. These alternative medications may be evaluated against the patient's healthcare plan coverage to present available medication options and associated out-of-pocket costs to the patient.