Ensuring patient safety through safe prescribing practices
PRP supports licensees in prescribing opioid, sedative, stimulant, and other psychoactive medications—including those with potential for misuse, diversion, and harm—through collegial, remedial, and educational quality assurance activities.
Our approach to quality assurance
The program reviews prescribing practices to ensure they align with accepted standards and guidelines. All activities are supported by evidence-based best practices.
The program is a proactive opportunity to
- re-evaluate long-term medication regimens
- incorporate risk mitigation measures in prescribing
- confirm prescribing aligns with current standards, guidelines, and evidence
- reflect on practice with guidance from a medical assessor
The program focuses on systemic quality, not individual interference.
The program does not
- intervene in individual patient care or tell licensees how to manage specific patients
- discourage legitimate medical use of prescription drugs or deter appropriate treatments
- discipline licensees for what they prescribe; rather, it recommends updates to practice patterns
How it works
The review process is supported by objective data and established science.
Licensee prescription profiles
Generated from PharmaNet data, these profiles are used as a tool to initiate constructive discussions around safe and rational prescribing.
Clinical guidelines
CPSBC does not write clinical guidelines but expects licensees to follow relevant published guidelines and peer-reviewed scientific evidence from sources including:
- BC Centre on Substance Use (guidelines for opioid use disorder in BC)
- educational institutions such as McMaster University (Canadian Guidelines for Opioids for Chronic Non-Cancer Pain)
Scientific integrity
CPSBC does not act as the final arbiter on subjects involving legitimate scientific and clinical debate.
Participation
Random selection
To ensure a fair and objective process, licensees who prescribe opioids, sedatives, stimulants, other psychoactive medications, or drugs with the potential for misuse, diversion or harm will be randomly selected for quality assurance review on a rotating basis within a five-year cycle.
Self-enrollment
You can also proactively request a review of your prescribing practice.
Proactive review allows you to:
- reflect on your prescribing practices with guidance from a medical assessor
- consider whether long-term medication regimens remain appropriate
- identify opportunities to incorporate risk-mitigation measures
- confirm that your prescribing aligns with current standards, guidelines, and evidence
Enrol in the Prescription Review Program (login required)
Assessment and outcomes
Each review is conducted according to defined, objective criteria and assessed by medical assessors. Based on these outcomes, licensees may be recommended to undertake individualized quality assurance activities aimed at supporting continuous improvement.