Accessing PharmaNET patient records

The 14 month limit

Have you ever tried to review a patient’s claim history on PharmaNET to try to establish what medications they have already tried, only to discover that you’re only able to access the most recent 14 months of history? Since the PharmaNET system’s first priority is to perform claim adjudications instantly, the 14 month limit in place for physicians is to ensure that claim adjudication performance is never compromised.

Many doctors find that this limit is too short, especially when making prescribing decisions on medications used to treat conditions like depression or ADHD. It is not uncommon that patients with these types of conditions need to try several medications before they find one that works, and no one likes wasting time trying a medication that they didn’t remember that they’d already tried a couple of years before.

What you can do

If you find yourself in the position of needing to view more than the past 14 months of a patient’s prescription claim history, you have a few options. If your patient regularly uses a particular pharmacy, the pharmacist may be able to provide you with information on the prescriptions the patient filled.

You can also ask the patient to fill out and mail or fax a record release form to the PharmaNET Profiles Service Team. This will provide you with the entire PharmaNET record for this patient, but may take some time to be received and then processed.

Want to be able to access PharmaNET?

If you would like to register yourself or your clinic in PharmaNET, our concierge team is happy to help! We can answer questions and work with the support team on your behalf to work through any issues, should you encounter them. You can email us at concierge@vancouverdivision.com, or book a phone call with the concierge, or attend our semi-monthly Virtual Office Hours to get answers to your questions in real time.