3.14 Drug Use Evaluation (DUE)

General Policy Description

PharmaNet captures and adjudicates all prescriptions dispensed in all community pharmacies and hospital outpatient pharmacies in B.C. Once a transaction is completed, PharmaNet returns a complete patient medication history, drug use evaluation (DUE) and adjudication results.

Policy Details

DUE checks

The last 14 months or the last 15 dispenses within the past 14 months of all prescriptions dispensed (a “medication history”) in community pharmacies and hospital outpatient pharmacies in B.C. is available online in PharmaNet.

The DUE function of PharmaNet provides pharmacists with information for assessing patient therapy.

PharmaNet performs four types of DUE checks, using drug information and clinical modules from First Data Bank (FDB).

The prescription being dispensed is compared to the active prescriptions on the medication history to assess the following:

• Drug-to-drug interactions
• Drug to prior adverse reactions
• Duplicate therapy/ingredients
• Dose too high/too low

DUE and opioid agonist treatment

Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) is frequently not included in DUE checks for OATs dispensed under PINs, as including it causes an excessive number of "Duplicate Ingredient/Duplicate Therapy" messages.

OATs dispensed under DINs (such as buprenorphine-naloxone) are included in DUE checks.

The College of Pharmacists of B.C. (CPBC): Pharmacists dispensing prescriptions to patients on OAT should be aware of potential drug interactions for OAT drugs and be prepared to recommend appropriate monitoring and management strategies to physicians and patients.

For information on potential drug interactions, please refer to CPBC's Professional Practice Policy (PPP) 66 Guide.