Transferring patient care—whether that is transferring prescriptions, providing copies of care plans or other clinical information, or transferring care upon termination of the patient relationship—presents an important opportunity for regulated members to collaboratively provide person-centred care.
Patients have the right to choose which pharmacy they receive their pharmacy services from, and may ask to move their care, information, and prescriptions at any time. As per ACP’s Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, honouring a patient’s request to transfer care to another regulated health professional within a timeframe that minimizes disruption to care is essential to supporting care continuity and facilitating person-centred care.
Recently, ACP has received an influx of inquiries from regulated members and the public about the requirements and best practices for transferring patient care. There have been concerns regarding a perceived lack of professionalism when a prescription is transferred from one pharmacy to another.
When a transfer is requested, both the transferring and receiving pharmacies play an important role to facilitate the process.
The transferring regulated member must complete the process in a timely manner that ensures patient care is not disrupted. Regulated members should not contact the patient to pressure or induce them to continue care at their pharmacy.
The receiving regulated member must provide specific information about what has been requested for the transfer, be respectful of the workload at the transferring pharmacy, and not request information that is not relevant to or necessary for the care that is being transferred.
Refer to the Requests to transfer patient care guidelines for detailed guidance to support both the transferring and receiving pharmacy teams.
