There’s never been a better time to Buy BC and support local growers, producers and the food we love right here in BC.
Explore Buy BC products
BC Licensed Natural Health Product (LNHP) Value Set
Last updated on March 26, 2025Many British Columbians are using natural health products (NHPs) to positively influence their health.
These may include herbal products, vitamin and mineral supplements, traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic and other traditional medicines, and homeopathic preparations.
When used appropriately, NHPs can be an integral part of an individual's health management. However, some people assume that because a health product is labelled "natural," it is "safe."
NHPs, like drugs, may have potentially serious side effects. Any substance, whether natural or synthetic, that influences the body, has the potential to be at risk to health. Children, pregnant or breastfeeding women, seniors, those diagnosed with a serious disease or those scheduled for an operation are particularly susceptible to risk.
While the effectiveness of NHPs is often supported by traditional use and anecdotal reports, the BC Licensed Natural Health Product (LNHP) Value Set will help clinicians, patients, and providers unambiguously search, document and record in Electronic Medical Records Systems (EMR), Clinical Information Systems (CIS), and Pharmacy Management Systems (PMS), any natural health product approved under the federal Natural Health Products Regulations Act and available for use in Canada.
The BC LNHP relational files contain information about natural health products where the licences are issued for unique product content in terms of ingredients, form, dose-unit, and intended route. The licence table contains the attributes of the licence that are common to all products that are manufactured under that licence and are comprised of a single row for each licence. The product table contains a row for each product that is produced under licences with the same ingredients but may be marketed with a different name, label, or company.
Licensed natural health products are identified by the eight-digit Natural Product Number (NPN) or Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) on the label and can include:
- consumer products (e.g., toothpastes, antiperspirants, shampoos, facial products, and mouthwashes),
- herb and plant-based remedies,
- homeopathic medicines,
- omega and essential fatty acids,
- probiotics and other products like amino acids,
- traditional medicines (e.g., Chinese Medicines or Ayurvedic (Indian) Medicines), and
- vitamins and mineral supplements.
The BC LNHP Value Set includes the following:
- Health Canada Natural Product Number (NPN) or Drug Identification Number for homeopathic medicines (DIN-HM),
- Primary product display name,
- Virtual Natural Health Product (VNHP) name,
- Number of distinct active ingredients in the product,
- Number of products available under the product licence,
- Intended route of the product,
- Product form for dose administration,
- Number of medicinal ingredient(s) per dosage unit, and
- Additional descriptors from the Health Canada Natural Product Database.
These components articulate the product’s display name, virtual natural product names, number of ingredients per product, route of administration, form, and dosage discretely when prescribing, dispensing, or recording natural health products.
The structure of the BC LNHP Value Set is based on both the:
- LNHP Database
- Natural Health Products Ingredients Database (to convert complex chemical names to common names)
Scope
The audience for this value set are:
- Digital Health Solutions such as Clinical Information Systems (CIS), Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and Pharmacy Management Systems (PMS),
- Developers of IT solutions for BC healthcare systems,
- Organizations associated with the manufacture, distribution, and use of pharmaceutical preparations, and
- Professional health care practitioners.
The scope of the BC LNHP Value Set provides a foundation for standardizing natural health product prescribing, dispensing, and recording, and other use cases such as medication orders, medication reconciliation (Best Possible Medication History) or a Medication Statement (medication list/summary), which in turn are components of a Care Plan or Patient Clinical Summaries.
Governance
The BC LNHP Value Set is governed by the provincial Digital Health Strategy Office (DHSO) and BC Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceutical, Laboratory & Blood Services Division (PLBSD).
Maintenance
Significant analysis and review of documents and specifications were undertaken to make sure the standards developed would be applicable and attainable to the various stakeholder groups.
Wherever possible, content templates defined and reviewed by standards bodies were referenced, and appropriate constraints for the BC context applied.
The content of the BC Natural Health Product files may require post-production edits, additions, and/or maintenance to address issues identified by technical validation. Additional adjustments may be required over time to reflect requirements in BC or to align with emerging pan-Canadian standards developments.
Current Status
The current version of the BC LNHP files, and associated NHP data dictionary materials are available for download. A constrained downloadable version consists of 5000 sample products.
For the FULL value set of over 120k products and supporting data tables, please email the Health Information Standards team at HLTH.HISSupport@gov.bc.ca.
Contact
For any information related to the value set files, please contact the Health Information Standards team at HLTH.HISSupport@gov.bc.ca.