Platform requirements

Each pharmacy must have access to a practice incident management platform that facilitates the CQI process in the pharmacy, including

• documentation and analysis of practice incidents and close calls,
• documentation of action plans; and
• anonymous reporting of practice incidents and close calls to the national database.

The practice incident management platform is used internally by the pharmacy team to document practice incidents and close calls. These practice incidents and close calls are then anonymously submitted to the NIDR. Details of practice incidents and close calls submitted to the NIDR will not include any identifying information so, while ACP may be provided with aggregate data from the NIDR, it will not allow ACP to identify individual pharmacies or registrants who have submitted reports. ACP will not have access to individual practice incident and close call details submitted to the NIDR.

Note that ACP field officers and inspectors will still review practice incidents and close calls with regulated members when on site.

Access to the platform must not be shared between pharmacies, except through the use of valid licences that allow for the management of multiple locations. In all cases, the pharmacy licensee must oversee access to the platform for their individual pharmacy. Each pharmacy team member using the platform must have a unique login.

There are several platforms available in the Canadian marketplace. The pharmacy team’s choice of platform must ensure that all of the CQI+ practice incident management platform requirements4 are satisfied.

The Health Information Act requires licensees to submit a site-specific privacy impact assessment (PIA) to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) any time they implement a system that collects, uses, or discloses patient-identifying information. Licensees should work with their practice incident management platform provider and OIPC to understand how information is collected, used, and disclosed to determine whether a PIA is required.

Known providers

ACP recognizes the availability of the following commercially available platforms in Canada (in alphabetical order):

• Community Pharmacy Incident Reporting (CPhIR) – ISMP Canada
• Pharmapod – ThinkResearch
• TPSC Cloud – The Patient Safety Company

This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and ACP does not approve or endorse individual platforms. Pharmacy teams may use another platform, including a proprietary system, provided that they can demonstrate it meets ACP’s CQI+ practice incident management platform requirements.