Drug Information System - How it Works

A medication profile will be created for you in the system the first time you have a prescription filled at your community pharmacy. After that, all your prescriptions will automatically be added to your profile.

Your medication profile in the Drug Information System will be linked to your health card number; your pharmacy will be asking for this number when you get a prescription filled.

Your profile may also contain other medication-related information about you that is important for healthcare providers to know when they are caring for you – information such as allergies, adverse reactions and medical conditions. Your healthcare providers will have the ability to add this information to the system. The more comprehensive your profile is, the more value it adds to clinical decisions about your care.

Other pharmacies and authorized healthcare providers who are caring for you will be able to access your comprehensive medication profile and immunization information. They will be able to see and update the information as required, and it will be available anytime and anywhere it is needed within Nova Scotia.

Access to your medication profile is governed by Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act (PHIA). Your profile is to be accessed only by healthcare providers responsible for your care; all access to your profile is recorded and you have the right to know who has accessed it.

The Drug Information System allows prescriber to create prescriptions for you electronically. This means you may not receive a paper prescription, rather your pharmacy will be able to access your prescription electronically from the Drug Information System and fill it for you. This will help to reduce errors associated with handwritten prescriptions.

The Drug Information System contains your medication information from the day your pharmacy and your healthcare providers connected to the system. Your historical medication information on file with your pharmacy and your healthcare providers prior to connection to the Drug Information System is not included in your medication profile. All community pharmacies in Nova Scotia have been connected to the DIS since Nov. 2016.

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