3.19 Recording Adverse Drug Reaction and Allergy Information in PharmaNet
Last updated on July 31, 2025General Policy Description
Whenever a pharmacist is made aware that a client has had an adverse drug reaction that will affect their future medical care (including allergies to prescription drugs, non-prescription medications, or natural health products), the pharmacist must update the client’s medication profile in both the local system and PharmaNet.
Policy Details
If an adverse drug reaction will affect a client's future medical care, a pharmacist must update the patient’s medication profile in both the local system and PharmaNet.
​Pharmacy software may not automatically update a patient’s profile on PharmaNet. Pharmacists can contact their software vendor to determine if their software requires them to manually trigger the upload to PharmaNet.
Procedure
Entering an adverse drug reaction
- Use the Patient Profile Information Update—TPI function.
- Enter the required information in the Add Adverse Drug Reaction screen, as described below:
| Field name | Mandatory | Information details |
|---|---|---|
|
DIN |
Yes |
Drug DIN, PIN, or NPN—refer to information below to determine the correct information to enter |
|
Drug name |
Maybe |
Drug's generic name. Some software software auto-completes the drug name when the DIN is entered |
|
Reported by |
Yes |
Person who reported the reaction to you, i.e., client or family member, pharmacist, physician, BC Drug and Poison Information Centre |
|
Date reported |
Yes |
Date on which the adverse reaction was reported to you |
|
Comments |
No |
Details about the adverse reaction or allergy (maximum length that can be uploaded to PharmaNet is 80 characters) |
|
Practitioner ID reference code |
Yes, if comments are included |
Your information as the health care provider entering the information |
|
Practitioner ID |
Yes, if comments are included |
Your information as the health care provider entering the information |
|
Date entered |
Yes, if comments are included |
Date the adverse reaction was entered in PharmaNet. Your software may not display this field if it automatically fills in the date. |
For non-prescription or natural health products
Certain non-prescription or natural health products do not have a DIN; PharmaCare assigns a PIN to such products.
To decide which identifier to use:
- If a DIN exists for a product, enter the DIN
- If there is no DIN, enter the product's unique PIN
- If there no unique PIN for a product, enter the appropriate Miscellaneous PIN and provide product details in the Comments field
For compounded products
When a patient has an adverse reaction to a product compounded with multiple ingredients that have DINs, create an adverse reaction record for each DIN in the product, unless the client knows the particular ingredient they are allergic.
3. After recording the reaction in your local system, follow your software's procedures for uploading the entry to PharmaNet.
Entering general allergy information
When someone reports an allergy that is not specific to a particular product, enter the information in the Clinical Conditions screen of the Patient Profile Information Update—TPI function.
Removing adverse drug reaction information from PharmaNet
If you (or a client) identify inappropriate or incorrect information in the adverse drug reaction field, submit a Request to Inactivate Adverse Reaction/Clinical Condition in PharmaNet Profile (HLTH 5550) (PDF, 930KB).