B.C. has a new prescription management program. Here's what you need to know

Since 1995, British Columbia has used a program called PharmaNet, a province-wide network that links health professionals to a central data system. All prescriptions dispensed in B.C. are registered into PharmaNet. Now, the province is introducing a new Provincial Prescription Management (PPM) program that will expand on what PharmaNet does. According to the B.C. ministry of health, transitioning to a new PPM will improve access to healthcare and access to, and better use of, prescription medication. The expanded program will include original prescription authorizations, which can be used to manage prescriptions on real-time, across many provider types and sites of care. According to the Ministry, this will allow healthcare providers to work together as a team and have a centralized patient medication profile that they can all add to, update or download. Previously, PharmaNet simply had information on what medications were dispensed, but there wasn’t real-time information on refills remaining and prescription adjustments, including an order to discontinue the medication or if a specialist changes the prescribed dose from a family doctor.The transition to this PPM will also streamline processes and move the pharmacy workflow from paper to digital, in turn reducing wait times and improving care delivery. With the new PPM, any pharmacy can download the prescription details to their local system and have access to all information. A patient’s full, active medication list will become available to pharmacists and pharmacist interventions can be recorded. The PPM will also improve clinical decision-making for all practitioners with better information-sharing. For patients, the new PPM will allow them to fill and refill prescriptions at any B.C. pharmacy. That way, patients can still access their medications when they’re out of town or away from their home pharmacy. For now, PPM deployment is actively underway and the Ministry of Health hopes that all pharmacies will be PPM-enabled by the end of 2025.

B.C. has a new prescription management program. Here's what you need to know

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