PRIME

PRIME protects patient and practitioner information. Only users authorized by the Ministry of Health can use PharmaNet to deliver care.

PRIME protects you as a PharmaNet user. PRIME assigns you a unique global PharmaNet ID code (GPID). The GPID is linked to every transaction you make in PharmaNet. No one else can enter transactions under your GPID.

Access to PharmaNet is for professionals who care for patients as a key job duty. Your employer decides whether you need direct access to PharmaNet (they may instead prefer you consult medication records added to a patient’s chart). Access to PharmaNet is granted through PRIME according to legislation and Ministry of Health policy.

Before PRIME, there were several ways to access PharmaNet across the health sector. To align with regulatory requirements and to better protect PharmaNet and the information in it, the Province implemented PRIME as a single-user enrolment system for all PharmaNet users across the health sector.

PRIME:

• Keeps PharmaNet patient and practitioner information secure
• Improves how PharmaNet access is monitored, audited, and tracked in case of a breach or misuse of PharmaNet information
• Ensures that every PharmaNet user has been approved by the Ministry of Health, the owner of PharmaNet
• Eliminates administrative paperwork and recordkeeping associated with PharmaNet access, which has traditionally fallen to healthcare settings
• Is required by law, enshrined in B.C.’s Information Management Regulation

History

In 2015, Information Management Regulation under the Pharmaceutical Services Act was brought into effect, and changed in 2021. The IMR is intended to improve user management for PharmaNet and address security and privacy concerns arising from security breaches and audit reports on PharmaNet. The Regulation requires that the Ministry of Health be solely responsible for granting access and determining privileges for PharmaNet, on an individual basis.

PRIME meets the requirements of the IMR, but it has also been designed to provide a quick, streamlined, uniform way for all PharmaNet users to request Ministry approval for PharmaNet access. Hundreds of healthcare professionals, from pharmacists, to practicing physicians and nurse providers, to medical office assistants, to system administrators, have participated in the development of PRIME, allowing for continuous, responsive improvements.

PRIME contributes to the ongoing evolution of the Ministry of Health's Digital Health Initiative to make more and better healthcare information available online. PRIME's secure online identity authentication for registration is in line with the Ministry's overall strategy for access to online health services and information.

PRIME provides better security for patient and providers data within PharmaNet.

"PRIME" was originally an acronym for the PharmaNet Revisions for the Information Management Enhancement project, but now refers to the system.

The terms of access accepted in PRIME supersede previous paper PharmaNet access agreements (ComPAP, MPAP) and confidentiality undertakings (HAP, EDAP).