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PharmaNet
PharmaNet, which is managed by the Ministry of Health, is a secure province -wide network that links all British Columbian pharmacies to a central set of data systems. Using PharmaNet, authorized health professionals can access patient records which include information about all prescription medications dispensed to an individual anywhere in BC.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The Ministry of Health is responsible for all PharmaNet Profile Support Services, including printing and distributing PharmaNet profiles as well as patient profile corrections.
PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTING PHARMANET PROFILES
All requests for PharmaNet profiles must be sent to PharmaNet Profiles Services using the Ministry of Health Consent for Release of PharmaNet Patient Record form (HLTH 5551).
All PharmaNet patient profile requests received by the College prior to August 1, 2017 will be transferred to and completed by the Ministry of Health.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 1-855-952-1432
Fax: 250-953-0432
Mail: PO Box 9652 STN PROV GOVT, Victoria, BC V8W 3C8
Reporting Patient Profile Corrections
All patient record corrections should be directed to the Ministry of Health Data Quality Services Team.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 1-844-660-3200
Fax: 250-953-0486
- Assigning Personal Health Numbers (PHNs) to Patients
Although about four million people live in BC, more than eight million personal health numbers (PHN) currently exist in the BC health system. Duplicate, invalid and inaccurate PHNs cause health-related and administrative problems. Multiple PHNs place patients at risk of dispensing errors and adverse drug reactions resulting from incomplete medical information.
Each PHN is a unique number used to identify anyone who accesses the BC health system. Many legitimate PHNs relate to out-of-province visitors and deceased patients. However, many more PHNs are created daily when pharmacists accidentally generate duplicates.
The Ministry of Health and PharmaNet are working to weed out inaccurate PHNs. Flipping a patient's day and month of birth, and variations in the spelling of a name, are the most common inaccuracies. The system also has PHNs inappropriately issued for family pets, doctor's offices, clinics and hospitals.
More information on PharmaNet Profile corrections can be found at:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-resources/pharmacare/pharmanet-bc-s-drug-information-networkEmail: [email protected]
Toll-free:1-844-660-3200
Fax: 250-953-0486Find out more on the PharmaCare website:
www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharme/generalinfo/policy/pharmacypractices.pdfPHN Do's and Don't's
- Do check ID and confirm birth date and name spelling before requesting a PHN through PharmaNet.
- Do contact the PharmaNet Help Desk and ask them to correct the PHN if you realize you've added a PHN with the wrong name or birth date.
- Don't issue a new PHN to correct an error made in an existing PHN.
- Don't issue PHNs for offices, clinics, pharmacies, family pets, or other animals.
- Do contact the PharmaNet Help Desk for assistance if you cannot find the patient’s PHN on a PharmaNet search and it is likely they have had a PHN in BC before.
- Obtaining a PharmaNet Patient Record
Do you know what to do if an individual enters your pharmacy and asks for a copy of their PharmaNet patient record? As with any type of counseling, a few questions can clarify the request and provide you with an action plan.
Ask if they want a copy of their current record, which is a list of PharmaNet transactions (all medication entries and accesses) for the past 14 months. If this is what the person is looking for, the requests for current PharmaNet patient records can be made at any pharmacy in British Columbia.
If the individual is looking for a record earlier than the past 14 months, they need to contact the Ministry of Health, PharmaNet at:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-resources/pharmacare/pharmanet-bc-s-drug-information-networkEmail: [email protected]
Toll-free: 1-855-952-1432
Fax: 250-953-0432For requesting current patient record requests
3 Easy Steps
- Positively identify the patient
View primary and/or secondary ID according to College guidelines, preferably including one picture ID.
As the PharmaNet patient record is private and confidential, family members must produce ID and can request only their own record. If the request is on behalf of a child, use your professional judgment and privacy legislation guidelines to decide if a parent can request on a child’s behalf. A child considered old enough to make a health care decision is also considered responsible enough to make this decision. If you have any questions regarding a minor, please contact the Ministry of Health.
- Confirm the patient’s address on PharmaNet
To ensure the patient record is mailed to the correct address, check mailing information with the patient and update PharmaNet if necessary.
- Process the request on your local system
Select the function on your local system and transmit the request via PharmaNet, according to your software vendor’s instructions. The Ministry of Health will receive the request, print the record, and mail it directly to the patient, free of charge. The PharmaNet patient record cannot legally be printed at the pharmacy; a screenshot of the patient’s PharmaNet record is not acceptable and should not be produced.
What they receive
The PharmaNet patient record will include:
- Current demographic information: name, address, phone number, personal health number and gender on record with the Ministry of Health.
- Clinical information: current and chronic medical conditions and the person who reported the information (patient, pharmacist, or prescriber).
- Adverse drug reaction information: allergies and medication side effects and the person who reported the information.
- Medication history: all prescriptions dispensed at PharmaNet-connected pharmacies in the past 14 months. Includes the prescription number, date dispensed, drug identification number, brand name, strength and dosage form of the drug, quantity dispensed and prescriber.
- Medication record access: each access made to the clinical information, adverse drug reaction information, or the medication history by pharmacists, emergency department physicians, GPs, the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia or the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia is recorded.
What they won’t receive
The PharmaNet patient record does not include details about the costs of any dispensed medications. This information can be requested from the pharmacy that dispensed the medication or from PharmaCare for medications they cover. The PharmaNet record does not include the name of the pharmacy or dispensing pharmacists.
Archived patient records
If an individual is seeking their PharmaNet patient record for a period earlier than the past 14 months, this is an archived patient record request. This is done through the Ministry of Health, PharmaNet at:
http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-resources/pharmacare/pharmanet-bc-s-drug-information-networkEmail: [email protected]
Toll-free: 1-855-952-1432
Fax: 250-953-0432Patient record key word
Pharmacists may also be asked by patients about applying a key word to their PharmaNet patient record. Be sure you know what steps to take in your local software program to help a patient if they want to add this security feature to their record. See “Identifying Patients for PharmaNet Purposes” in the Related Documents section.
- Positively identify the patient
- PharmaCare Information and Access Audits
Once a year every pharmacy in British Columbia receives a PharmaNet access audit. The audit lists every non-dispensing PharmaNet access during a randomly selected two-week period.
BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner strongly supports this process. It helps the College assure the public that pharmacists look at PharmaNet records only for appropriate reasons.
Here's how an audit works. The Ministry of Health sends the pharmacy a printout listing pharmacy name and code, date of access, patient's name and PHN, pharmacist's name and ID. The audit comes with a cover letter and instructions for the manager asking for a reply within a month.
Pharmacy managers can simplify the audit process by establishing a system that allows pharmacists to record PharmaNet access not associated with a dispense. The access audit helps the Ministry verify that pharmacists keep appropriate records. There are many valid reasons for accessing PharmaNet. The audit is not meant to discourage appropriate patient record checks.
If you have questions about a PharmaNet access audit, please contact the Ministry of Health.
For more information on PharmaCare, please visit the PharmaCare website: www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharmacare/
- Office-use Medications (O-Med)
All medication dispensed to practitioners (physicians, dentists, veterinarians and midwives) for their clinics for administration to patients are considered to be "office-use medications" and must be transmitted to PharmaNet. All pharmacies are assigned a unique "O-Med PHN" that must be used for the transmission of office-use medications. O-Med PHNs are not to be shared with other stores.
Call the PharmaNet Help Desk at 1-800-663-7100 if you do not know your PHN.
- Stock Transfers
Sale of drugs to other pharmacies, including emergency supplies of narcotics and controlled drugs, as well as drugs returned to wholesalers, must not be transmitted to PharmaNet. Do not use your “O-Med PHN” or assign a new PHN through PharmaNet for this purpose. In these cases, the medication should be treated as "stock transfers" and recorded on the local system only. Medication transferred to a long-term care facility or to a group home as contingency medication or ward stock must also not be transmitted to PharmaNet. Once an order is received for a specific patient, that prescription must then be transmitted to PharmaNet using the patient's Personal Health Number (PHN).
Pharmacists unsure of how to use the local stock transfer functionality or the O-Med procedure should contact their pharmacy software vendor.
- Prescriptions for Pets
Pet prescriptions must be written by a veterinarian; pharmacies cannot accept prescriptions written by a pet owner’s doctor, or dispense prescriptions under the pharmacist’s ID.
A pet owner’s PHN must be used to record an animal prescription on PharmaNet, the veterinarian’s licence number must also be used as the practitioner ID, along with the appropriate practitioner reference ID code for the province the vet is registered in (e.g. V9 for BC)
Depending on your pharmacy’s local software, you can use the owner’s PHN to set up a separate animal patient record on your local pharmacy network and/or make a note on the script entry that the drug is for a pet.
Do not create new PHNs for pets.