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Ministry of Health

Requirements for Wireless Access to PharmaNet

Effective October 28, 2010, the Ministry of Health will allow wireless access to PharmaNet. If you use wireless access, you must comply with the following requirements.

Compliance with OCIO wireless standards

Your secure wireless Local Area Network and equipment must comply with the wireless standards specified by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) of British Columbia. These standards are set forth in Sections 5.9 and 5.10 of the Information Management / Information Technology Standards Manual available at: www.cio.gov.bc.ca/local/cio/standards/documents/standards/standards_manual.pdf.

Note: Although the heading for Section 5.11 states "Control Standard for a Large, Complex Organization," the entire standard applies to all organizations, regardless of size.

Staff Training

You must ensure that you provide all new and current employees with information about your facility's wireless policy and procedures as it relates to access to PharmaNet.

Incident Reporting

You must ensure that employees report all information security incidents to whoever signed the Attestation of Compliance. Security incidents are defined in the Government of British Columbia's Information Security Policy at www.cio.gov.bc.ca/local/cio/informationsecurity/policy/isp.pdf.

You must also handle any incidents in accordance with the OCIO wireless standards.

Completing an Attestation of Compliance

You must complete and submit the appropriate attestation form(s):

  • Attestation of Compliance with the Government of British Columbia Wireless Standards - Medical Practice [Schedule 21]
  • Attestation of Compliance with the Government of British Columbia Wireless Standards - Pharmacy [Schedule 22]
  • Re-Attestation of Compliance with the Government of British Columbia Wireless Standards - Pharmacy [Schedule 22A]
  • Attestation of Compliance with the Government of British Columbia Wireless Standards - Emergency Department, Hospital, Designated Mental Health Facility [Schedule 23]
  • Additional Facilities for the Attestation of Compliance with the Government of British Columbia Wireless Standards [Schedule 24]

The attestation must be signed by the appropriate signatory.

Authorized signatories

Organization/Business Authorized Signatory
hospital, emergency department, or designated mental health facility chief executive, information, or operating officer of the facility or health authority
pharmacy person who signed the PharmaCare Enrolment Agreement for the facility
medical practice physician who signed the Medical Practice Access to PharmaNet Agreement

In some cases one individual may be authorized to sign the attestation on behalf of more than one facility. If this is the case, complete the Additional Facilities form.

Submitting your signed attestation

Pharmacies should send their signed Attestation of Compliance to:

Health Insurance British Columbia
Information Support
3rd Floor, 716 Yates St
Victoria BC V8W 1L4

Fax: 250 405-3599

All other points of service should send their signed Attestation of Compliance to:

Health Data Access, Research and Stewardship
Information Management and Knowledge Services Branch
Ministry of Health
2-1, 1515 Blanshard Street
Victoria, BC V8W 3C8

Fax: 250 952-1119

Ministry confirmation

Once you receive an e-mail confirmation from the ministry, you may implement wireless access to PharmaNet.

Attestation term limits

You will need to renew your attestation every two years. The ministry, however, reserves the right to require re-attestation at any time (e.g., following the publication of major changes to the wireless standards).

Failure to comply

Facilities that do not satisfy these requirements are not permitted to use wireless technology to access PharmaNet. Any facility that fails to comply with the above procedures in the deployment and use of wireless technology will have to terminate their wireless connection to PharmaNet and any other systems the ministry specifies.

Need help or information?

For assistance, contact the Ministry of Health HelpDesk at Hlth.Helpdesk@gov.bc.ca.