Adverse Drug Events in PharmaNet - British Columbia

This page was created with information provided by the PharmaNet ADE Project Team.

Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) are recorded and displayed in a patient's PharmaNet Profile and must be reviewed by pharmacists to determine appropriate action when dispensing prescriptions. This initiative is being implemented by the use of the ActionADE software developed by B.C. researchers to help standardize and facilitate sharing of ADE information between health care providers.

An ADE is classified as harm caused by appropriate or inappropriate use of a drug whereas adverse drug reactions are a subset of these events, where harm is directly caused by a drug under appropriate use. ADEs may include cases of provider error, non-adherence or incorrect dosages.

PharmaNet Profile in PharmaClik Rx

When viewing a patient's PharmaNet Profile in PharmaClik Rx, the patient's ADE information displays in the Clinical Condition Information and Adverse Reaction Information sections. The ADEs are identified by *ADE_HHMM, where HHMM is the timestamp when the ADE was recorded in hours (HH) and minutes (MM).

Tip: When viewing the PharmaNet Profile for ADE information, use the uncondensed view by clearing the Condense flag. This ensures you can easily cross-reference the Clinical Condition Information and the Adverse Reaction Information.

Use the dropdowns below to learn more about the ADE information displays in each section.

Managing Prescriptions and ADEs

This initiative is dependent on pharmacists recording their clinical decisions in PharmaNet based on the ADE information presented to them.

When processing a prescription, the PharmaNet Drug Use Evaluation (DUE) will alert on an ADE as part of the claim process. Pharmacists should review the PharmaNet Profile for ADE information in both the Clinical Condition Information and Adverse Reaction Information sections to assess how to ADE alert should be managed clinically.

The clinical decision in response to the ADE information should be recorded as an intervention code that is submitted to the PharmaNet. To view the list of intervention codes, see ADE Intervention Codes.

Intervention codes can be entered at the time of claim adjudication due to the PharmaNet DUE alert or prior to submission of claim adjudication. See the images below to learn more about the workflow of either method.

  1. Workflow if decision is made at the time of claim adjudication and display of PharmaNet DUE alert.
  2. Workflow if decision is made prior to submission of claim adjudication.

Helpful Links