Drug Information System

Drug information systems (DIS) are a key component of electronic health records (EHR) which link pharmacies, hospitals and doctors to patient medication information.

Nova Scotia is implementing a drug information system that will improve patient safety, decrease the possibility of adverse drug reactions, reduce the potential for medication abuse and increase productivity for pharmacists and prescribers, like doctors, dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners and midwives.

The drug information system will be secure and protect patient privacy while allowing authorized health care providers access to a current medication profile.  The system will make health care safer for patients by reducing the risk of prescription errors and by identifying the potential for interactions between drugs.

Currently in Nova Scotia, individual pharmacies and authorized health care providers use internal systems that are not provincially connected to track their patients’ medications. The drug information system will give health care providers access to a more complete patient medication profile, enabling them to provide better care to their patients.

Pharmacies will begin using the drug information system in mid 2013. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.