Frequently Asked Questions
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) is an independent national not-for-profit agency committed to the advancement of medication safety in all healthcare settings. Our goal is the creation of safe and reliable systems for managing medications in all environments.
ISMP Canada works collaboratively with the healthcare community, regulatory agencies and policy makers, provincial, national and international patient safety organizations, the pharmaceutical industry and the public to promote safe medication practices.
ISMP Canada's mandate includes analyzing medication incidents, making recommendations for the prevention of harmful medication incidents, and facilitating quality improvement initiatives.
CPhIR is an anonymous reporting program designed to empower community pharmacies for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI). It provides users with the ability to document and analyze incident information such as contributing factors that can cause errors in the medication-use system.
CPhIR meets the reporting requirements of the provincial mandatory reporting programs for contributing incident data to the National Incident Data Repository for Community Pharmacies (NIDR).
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada) houses the National Incident Data Repository for Community Pharmacies (NIDR); a database of standardized data on medication incidents reported by community pharmacies and a component of the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS). From the data reported and through understanding of the contributing factors, pharmacy teams can develop and implement system-based strategies for quality improvement and prevent recurrence of potential errors.
The data is collected through a secure transfer protocol for the purpose of analysis and shared learning to advance medication safety in community pharmacies in Canada.
The goal of ISMP Canada is to analyze medication incident reports and develop recommendations for enhancing patient safety in all healthcare settings. CPhIR contributes to the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS). . CPhIR meets the reporting requirements of the provincial mandatory reporting programs for contributing incident data to the National Incident Data Repository for Community Pharmacies (NIDR).
Medication incidents are often under-reported. CPhIR will provide you with the ability to document and analyze contributing factors (e.g. miscommunication, staffing, and education) that can cause errors in the medication-use system. From the data reported and through understanding of the contributing factors, your pharmacy team can develop and implement system-based strategies for quality improvement and prevent potential errors from occurring again in the future.
The amount of time depends on how much information is included in the report but it should take approximately 10 minutes or less to complete.
There is an annual subscription rate to use CPhIR. Please refer to the CPhIR Fee Schedule page.
To sign up for a CPhIR account please have the following ready:
- Contact information of the individual submitting the registration
- Pharmacy contact information
- Pharmacy licence or permit number
Please note that the DSA must be signed before the CPhIR registration can be completed.
For Data Sharing Agreements to be signed by your head office, please email cphir@ismpcanada.ca for more information.
When can I login and access CPhIR? Once your registration has been submitted, it will be reviewed by ISMP Canada. You will receive a confirmation email with your username and password within two business days to the email address provided in the account registration.
To sign up for an account for a Saskatchewan pharmacy, please refer to the COMPASS requirements from the Saskatchewan College of Pharmacy Professionals - About COMPASS
ISMP Canada is an independent, not-for-profit corporation continued under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act by Articles of Continuance dated October 3, 2014, with a mandate to analyze medication incident reports and develop recommendations for enhancing patient safety. The activities to support this mandate are conducted in accordance with ISMP Canada's goals and purpose, as set out in the ISMP Canada Vision and Strategic Plan. Personal health information, as it is defined in the federal Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, is not collected.
The data is collected through a secure transfer protocol for the purpose of analysis and shared learning to advance medication safety in all health care settings in Canada. The following categories of information are received by ISMP Canada from pharmacies:
- Date of incident
- Type of incident (e.g., incorrect drug, incorrect strength/concentration)
- Discoverer of incident (e.g., pharmacist, technician, patient)
- Medication system stages involved in the incident (e.g., order entry, dispensing, administration)
- Medication(s) involved (e.g., medication name, strength)
- Degree of harm to patient due to incident (e.g., no harm, harm)
- Description of the incident
- Gender, and age range of patient (optional)
- Incident background information (optional)
- Contributing factors of the incident (e.g., miscommunication of drug order) (optional)
We do not collect data that may identify an individual or an organization. We ask institutions or pharmacies submitting incident reports to ensure that all identifying information is removed before submission. ISMP Canada has a privacy program to guide handling of information by its employees. As part of the program, we have completed a privacy impact assessment (PIA). Privacy policy is available on the ISMP Canada web page at https://ismpcanada.ca/about/#privacy. In accordance with our policy, the data is used by ISMP Canada only for the purposes of analysis, shared learning, and incident prevention strategy formulation.
The reporter will be provided with login credentials that allow for viewing individual pharmacy data and aggregate data from the CPhIR incident database. Such aggregate data is for your information only and cannot be published without written permission from ISMP Canada. ISMP Canada reserves all rights in the use of the CPhIR program.
The goal of ISMP Canada is to analyze medication incident reports and develop recommendations for enhancing patient safety in all healthcare settings. Medication incidents submitted through CPhIR will be used only for the purposes of analysis, shared learning, and formulation of incident prevention strategies.
ISMP Canada has a privacy policy stating that data are used by ISMP Canada only for the purposes of analysis, shared learning, and incident prevention strategy formulation. Only selected employees at ISMP Canada have access to the data submitted through CPhIR.