PharmaNet Data Requests

Requests for PharmaNet data are approved by the Data Stewardship Committee, with Population Data BC providing support for academic researchers requesting access. Please refer to the Data Stewardship Committee Policies Respecting the Disclosure of Information for further details.

Request Access to PharmaNet Data for Research

Step 1: Complete a Data Access Request

The researcher contacts Population Data BC and works with them to complete the data access request and prepare the application.

Step 2: Data Access Request Submission and Review

Population Data BC may ask the researcher clarification questions as required, to inform and help assure alignment with pre-determined policy and approval criteria for the submission adjudication process.

Step 3: Adjudication by the Data Stewardship Committee

Once the submission is deemed complete, Population Data BC will submit it to the Data Stewardship Committee Secretariat, for presentation to the Data Stewardship Committee for adjudication.

Step 4: Receive Data Stewardship Committee Decision

The Data Stewardship Committee will consider the application and may:

• Approve the application, based on alignment with the pre-determined policy and approval criteria (the criteria);
• Reject the application if it does not meet the criteria; or
• Request further information from the researcher to enable reassessment against the criteria, at a later meeting.

The Data Stewardship Committee Secretariat will inform Population Data BC of the outcome of the DSC adjudication, and Population Data BC will relay the decision to the research team.

Step 5: Data Preparation and Provisioning

If approved, the following steps occur prior to data preparation:

• Ministry of Health approval and signing of a Research Agreement
• Population Data BC will liaise with other data stewards and the research team to confirm linkage and provisioning details

PharmaNet data will then be made accessible to the researcher per the specifications set out in the Data Access Request and Research Agreement.

Step 6: Request Amendments to PharmaNet Data Access Requests (if applicable)

For approved applications, researchers may seek an amendment for the following reasons: to extend the data access period, to add a graduate student, to add years of data, and/or additional data files/fields.

Population Data BC will assist researchers in the amendment application process.

All PharmaNet research request amendments require Data Stewardship Committee review and approval.

Step 7: Submit Research Outputs to PopData BC

Prior to release, all research findings intended for public dissemination must be submitted to Population Data BC to facilitate a required Ministry of Health pre-publication review. The Ministry will respond with publication approval or questions/concerns to be resolved, within 45 business days of submission.

Step 8: Ensure Project Closure Compliance

Upon completion of the research, Population Data BC will work with researchers to ensure data destruction compliance, and that the necessary project closure documents are completed and submitted to the Ministry.