Islanders can now view the Prince Edward Island Pharmacare Formulary online, says Health and Wellness Minister Carolyn Bertram.
“This new fully accessible online version of the formulary will better inform Islanders and particularly health professionals of the medications covered under our provincial drug programs,” said Minister Bertram. “With over 3,000 medications on the formulary, and 25 different drug programs, we wanted to ensure Islanders had complete access to information on our Pharmacare program, and what services they can access.”
The Prince Edward Island Pharmacare Formulary is a listing of therapeutically effective medications approved for coverage including those considered therapeutically interchangeable under the Provincial Drug Programs.
The Provincial Pharmacare Program includes the following individual drug programs:
• AIDS/HIV Program
• Intron A Program
• Community Mental Health Program
• Meningitis Program
• Children-In-Care Program
• Nursing Home Program
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Nutrition Services Program
• Diabetes Control Program
• Phenylketonuria (PKU) Program
• Erythropoietin Program
• Quit Smoking Program
• Family Health Benefit Program
• Rabies Program
• Financial Assistance Program
• Rheumatic Fever Program
• Growth Hormone Program
• Seniors Drug Cost Assistance Plan
• Hepatitis Program
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program
• High Cost Drugs Program
• Transplant Drug Program
• Immunization Program
• Tuberculosis Program
• Institutional Pharmacy Program
To make the formulary information even more accessible, staff will now start work on an interactive database for the online formulary. Scheduled to be completed this summer,
the database will allow Islanders to search for particular medications, programs or drug identifiers.
“Our hope is when the interactive database is complete, Islanders and health professionals will have a simplified tool where they can insert a particular medication or identifier and they will have easy access to the relevant drug, which programs it is available through and what the eligibility requirements are,” said Minister Bertram.
The formulary is based upon recommendations from either the Atlantic or Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committees, or the Joint Oncology Drug Review Committee.
The PEI Pharmacare Formulary may be downloaded from the Health PEI website at www.healthpei.ca/formulary.