9.1 Positive Identification of Patients

[Updated October 1, 2020]

General Policy Description

The College of Pharmacists of British Columbia bylaws under the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act require pharmacists to take reasonable steps to positively identify a patient, patient’s representative, pharmacist or practitioner before providing any pharmacy service.

Policy details

Requirements for identification

As per section 36 of the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act (PODSA) bylaws (PDF, 355KB), pharmacists are required to take reasonable steps to positively identify a patient, patient's representative, registrant or practitioner before providing any pharmacy service that requires accessing, using or disclosing patient personal health information.

The College of Pharmacists of BC's (CPBC) Professional Practice Policy 54–Identifying Patients and Patient Representatives in Community Pharmacy and Telepharmacy Settings (PDF, 210KB) establishes that

• Pharmacists must ensure that only one PharmaNet patient record is created and maintained for each person and that only one Personal Health Number (PHN) is assigned to each person. By viewing and confirming appropriate identification documents, duplicate PHNs and patient records can be avoided.
• When a patient or patient’s representative is personally known to the pharmacist, the pharmacist may positively identify the patient or patient’s representative, and  
• If the patient or patient’s representative is not known to the pharmacist, positive identification is best achieved by viewing one piece of primary identification or two pieces of secondary identification
• When a patient or patient's representative doesn't have primary or secondary identification, the pharmacist should use their professional judgement for identification and ensure these steps are documented

Primary identification

The CPBC Professional Practice Policy 54–Identifying Patients and Patient Representatives in Community Pharmacy and Telepharmacy Settings (PDF, 210KB) establishes the following as primary identification:

• Driver’s licence 
• Passport 
• Provincial identity card issued by the Province of B.C. 
• Police identity card issued by the RCMP or municipality 
• Certificate of Indian Status Card 
• Permanent resident card issued by the Government of Canada
• B.C. Services Card issued by the Province of B.C. 

Secondary identification

The CPBC Professional Practice Policy 54–Identifying Patients and Patient Representatives in Community Pharmacy and Telepharmacy Settings (PDF, 210KB) establishes the following as secondary identification:

• Birth certificate 
• Canadian citizenship card 
• Record of landing of permanent residency
• Work/visitor/study permit issued by the Government of Canada
• Naturalization certificate 
• Marriage certificate 
• Change of name certificate 
• Identification or discharge certificate from Global Affairs Canada or Canadian Armed Forces 
• Consular identity card 

Identification when managing patient protective words

Separate identification requirements apply when managing patient protective words (i.e., when applying, removing or changing a protective word on the patient’s own PharmaNet record).

>> See Section 9.6—Protective words for details.

Protecting patient information from fraudulent use or identity theft

Pharmacists are asked to refuse phone requests for pharmacy or patient information if they cannot positively identify the caller. Such requests are often consistent with an attempt to obtain drugs illegally or to commit identity theft.

Pharmacies are also asked to report to HIBC any suspicious requests they receive. In particular, if a caller claims to be from PharmaCare, PharmaNet or HIBC, please confirm their identity by calling HIBC directly before you respond to their request. 

Please note that HIBC does not contact pharmacies to ask for pharmacy identifiers.

HIBC continues to carefully screen callers using the standard verification procedures. To help prevent misuse of pharmacy or pharmacist identifiers, when calling the PharmaCare Help Desk, please be prepared to provide any information necessary to substantiate your identity.

Tools and resources

• CPBC Professional Practice Policy 54—Identifying Patients and Patient Representatives in Community Pharmacy and Telepharmacy Settings (PDF, 210KB)