3.9 Medical Practitioners - Authorized Prescribing

General Policy Description

A BC PharmaCare benefit must be prescribed by a licensed health professional with the appropriate prescribing authority.

Policy Details

BC PharmaCare benefits must be prescribed by a licensed health professional authorized to prescribe the benefit (or in the case of Plan W over-the-counter benefits, to recommend them).

In addition, if a drug, device, substance or related service is dispensed in a community pharmacy in B.C., the dispense must be recorded in PharmaNet by the dispensing pharmacist for it to be covered.

Prescribing must be in accordance with the bylaws and standards, terms and conditions (SLCs) of the prescriber’s health regulatory college, and all related federal and provincial statutes and regulations, such as:

• Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
• Food And Drugs Act
• Health Professions Act
• Health Professions and Occupations Act (when in force)
• Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act
• Pharmaceutical Services Act

PharmaCare covers prescriptions written in accordance with the relevant governing legislation, bylaws, and practice standards by:

• Physicians registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC)
• Physician assistants (certified non-registrants of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC) as assigned and delegated by a supervising physician, as per 10(3) of the CPSBC bylaws
• Podiatric surgeons registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia
• Midwives, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses registered with the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM)
• Dentists registered with the British Columbia College of Oral Health Professionals
• Optometrists registered with the College of Health and Care Professionals of BC
• Pharmacists registered with the College of Pharmacists of BC
• Naturopathic physicians registered with the College of Complementary Health Professionals of BC

PharmaNet does not have built-in restrictions that block the dispense of a particular prescription written by an authorized health professional. PharmaNet verifies that the prescriber is licensed to practice in B.C., but the prescriber and dispensing pharmacist are relied on to ensure prescriptions are valid.

The Ministry of Health and health regulators monitor both dispensing information and records of access to PharmaNet for compliance with regulatory requirements.  PharmaCare may recover payments made for dispenses of invalid prescriptions.

Veterinary prescriptions

Veterinary prescriptions for animals are never a PharmaCare benefit, even if the same drug would be a benefit for a human. Any veterinary prescription dispensed in a community pharmacy must be entered in PharmaNet under the owner’s PHN and clearly identified as a dispense for an animal (an animal must never be assigned a PHN).  

Pharmacists cannot accept prescriptions written by the pet owner’s doctor nor dispense prescriptions as an emergency supply or an adaptation under the pharmacist’s licence number.

• Read prescriptions for pets for how to record dispenses veterinary prescriptions in PharmaNet.
• Visit Section 5.3 for claim instructions in the rare event that a pharmacy is filling prescriptions for the same drug on the same day for both a pet and the pet’s owner.