Once a medication incident or qualifying near miss is documented in the pharmacy's reporting platform, it must be transmitted to the appropriate national database:

• Community pharmacies submit to the National Incident Data Repository for Community Pharmacies (NIDR)
• Hospital pharmacies submit to the National System for Incident Reporting (NSIR)

After the transition period ends on June 1, 2026, this submission process must be facilitated automatically by the pharmacy's reporting platform. The reporting platform must have processes in place to de-identify the data before submission, ensuring there are no patient or pharmacy staff identifiers in the information transmitted to the national databases.

What are the National Databases?

Both NIDR and NSIR are components of the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS), a collaborative pan-Canadian program designed to reduce and prevent harmful medication incidents.

These national databases create a cohesive, information-sharing system that facilitates the understanding of medication incidents and near misses and the development of robust strategies to prevent patient harm across Canada.

Information from these databases, in addition to information from healthcare facility, practitioner, and consumer reporting programs of CMIRPS, is analyzed by ISMP Canada, and targeted recommendations are shared with all healthcare professionals through:

• Safety Bulletins offering medication system improvement strategies for improving patient safety
• National Snapshots providing overviews of medication incident trends
• Provincial Safety Briefs highlighting region-specific concerns and recommendations

These resources help pharmacy professionals identify potential safety concerns and implement evidence-based improvements in their practice settings.

Regardless of the reporting platform selected, pharmacies will need to establish appropriate agreements with the platform provider to facilitate submission of de-identified reports to the relevant national database.

What Information Does CPBC Have Access To?

Medication incident and near miss information is submitted to the national databases directly from the pharmacy's reporting platform. These databases do not collect details identifying the pharmacy, any involved pharmacy staff members, or any involved patients. Reports submitted to the national databases are de-identified.

CPBC of Pharmacists of BC will not have access to individual medication incident or near miss reports submitted to the national databases. However, CPBC may be provided with de-identified, aggregate data analyses intended to identify opportunities to improve patient safety and support pharmacy professionals in British Columbia.

It's important to note that while the reports submitted to national databases are de-identified, CPBC continues to have access to pharmacy records during inspections or investigations under the existing authority in the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act (PODSA) and the Health Professions Act (HPA).