Health Care Provider Access to Drug and Pharmacy Service Information
Find information about the Health Care Provider Access to Drug and Pharmacy Services Information.
Notice to Ontarians Receiving Drugs and Pharmacy Services
This notice is for people who receive any of the following:
- Publicly funded drugs (For example, seniors, children and youth aged 24 years and under, Trillium Drug Program recipients and Ontarians receiving COVID-19 vaccines)
- Monitored drugs (narcotics and controlled substances)
- Publicly funded pharmacy services (For example, MedsCheck Program, Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Program, or pharmacy flu vaccine administration)
The ministry will provide access to information about the publicly funded drugs and pharmacy services, and all monitored drugs you receive to your health care providers (for example, physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists who are directly involved with your care). Access to this information will assist your health care providers make more informed decisions about the care you need. Health care providers are required by law to protect the privacy of your personal health information.
Blocking access to personal information that would be used for health care purposes
If you do not want any of your health care providers to see your information, you can complete a form and submit it to the ministry. This block will prevent your health care providers from accessing your information.
Before making this decision, you are encouraged to consult with your health care providers about the importance of them knowing your drug and pharmacy service history to help make informed decisions about the care you receive.
If you do not contact the Ministry to block access to your information, we will consider that you have given us permission to make your information available to your health care providers.
If the ministry has previously notified you that access to your information has been blocked, the ministry will not give your health care providers access to your information unless you request a change.
Even if you have blocked your health care providers from accessing information about your monitored drugs for the purpose of providing health care to you, information about your monitored drugs will still be accessible to a health care provider who has actually prescribed or dispensed a monitored drug to you or is determining whether to prescribe or dispense a monitored drug to you. For more information, please see “Public Notice Regarding the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s (“ministry”) Collection, Use and Disclosure of Information under the Narcotics Safety and Awareness Act, 2010”.
How to unblock access to personal information
If you block access to your information and then change your mind, you may submit an Unblocking Access to Your Drug and Pharmacy Service Information form to the ministry.
You may also temporarily unblock access while receiving care from a health care provider by providing your permission in writing.
- your decision to block access will have no effect on your eligibility to receive publicly funded drugs and pharmacy services
- you will receive a letter confirming that your instructions have been processed
How your personal health care information is protected
How information is shared with health care providers
The ministry is providing some of your health information to health care providers for their use in providing health care to you. This information relates to:
- publicly funded drugs, including COVID-19 vaccines
- monitored drugs (narcotics and controlled substances)
- publicly funded pharmacy services, such as flu vaccinations
Specifically, health care providers will be able to access information about:
- publicly funded drugs dispensed in Ontario and paid for by the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) program and any other public drug programs (for example, Special Drugs Program), including monitored drugs covered by these programs
- drugs dispensed in Ontario to households pending eligibility with the Trillium Drug Program
- drugs or other products or services that were paid out-of-pocket by Trillium Drug Program or other Ontario Drug Benefit program recipients that were submitted to the ministry for receipt processing towards their deductible calculation or for reimbursement
- publicly funded COVID-19 vaccines administered to Ontarians and
- monitored drugs dispensed in Ontario paid for by private insurance or cash
In addition, providers are able to access information about pharmacy services that have been delivered to an individual, including:
- MedsCheck Program medication reviews
- pharmacist administration of flu vaccines
- ColonCancerCheck Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) kits for colorectal cancer screening
- Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Program services
- naloxone kits provided for harm reduction through the Ontario Naloxone Program for Pharmacies, if OHIP card is provided
- medications provided for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
Use of personal information by health care providers
Health care providers use your drug and pharmacy service information to see what drugs have been dispensed to you and what pharmacy services have been provided to you in order to:
- identify the best possible treatment options
- prevent harmful drug reactions
- improve the health care you receive
Who can access your personal information
To get a list of health care providers who have accessed your information, you may contact ServiceOntario INFOline at
How to prevent personal information from being shared with health care providers
If you do not want health care providers to access your information for the purpose of providing health care to you, you may block their access. This can be done by submitting a Blocking Access to Your Drug and Pharmacy Service Information form to the ministry. This block will prevent your health care providers from accessing your drug and pharmacy service information.
The ministry encourages you to talk to a health care provider about the benefits of allowing health care providers to access your information and the potential health risks of blocking access.
Importantly, even if you block access, health care providers cannot be prevented from accessing information about monitored drugs in two particular circumstances:
- if the health care provider has actually prescribed or dispensed a monitored drug to you or
- if the health care provider is deciding whether to prescribe or dispense a monitored drug to you
For more information, please see “Public Notice Regarding the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s (‘ministry’) Collection, Use and Disclosure of Information under the Narcotics Safety and Awareness Act, 2010”.
Acquiring a copy of the information that health care providers have access to
Everyone has a right to access records of their personal health information, with certain limited exceptions. To request a copy of your records, you may contact ServiceOntario INFOline at
COVID-19 vaccination information
Health care providers will see your publicly funded COVID-19 vaccination information if you’ve received a vaccine using a valid Ontario Health Number and have provided your consent for the collection of this information at the time of vaccination.
If you do not meet the above criteria, or if you have blocked access to your drug and pharmacy service information, health care providers will not see your COVID-19 vaccination information. Your consent and an authorizing signature would be required for your health care provider to access the information.
How to update your information
If your information is incorrect, you should contact ServiceOntario INFOline at
The following laws allow the ministry to give health care providers access to my information
Allowing health care providers to access information about publicly funded drugs, monitored drugs or publicly funded pharmacy services is authorized under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) and the Narcotics Safety and Awareness Act, 2010 (NSAA).
Making your information available to health care providers
Under PHIPA, the ministry may rely on your implied permission to allow health care providers access to your information for their use in providing health care to you.
Unless you notify the ministry in writing about your decision to block access, the ministry may allow a health care provider to access your information based on implied permission.
Forms
| 4385-87 | Blocking Access to Your Drug and Pharmacy Service Information | Fill & Print |
| 4387-87 | Unblocking Access to Your Drug and Pharmacy Service Information | Fill & Print |