If your pharmacy hasn’t batched data onto Netcare for 30 days, you can expect a call from the Professional Services division at Alberta Health. The Professional Services division works with Alberta Health’s Drug Domain Team, who is responsible for reviewing monthly Pharmacy Batch Submission Reports to ensure compliance with the ministry order.
Most of the time, pharmacy teams are unaware that something has gone wrong within their pharmacy software or its connection to Netcare.
“If you aren’t getting any rejection reports, there’s a chance your information isn’t being uploaded to Netcare at all,” says Jim Krempien, ACP Complaints Director. “A good way to test this is to look at a patient’s file you’ve recently updated and make sure the most current information is there.”
If you notice the information you recently added is missing, you should contact the Alberta Netcare help desk for health professionals at 1-877-931-1638.
Best Possible Medication History
There are many reasons why it’s important to have complete, accurate information in Netcare. One example is the recently added Best Possible Medication History (BPMH) tab. This tab is auto-generated by Netcare using Pharmacy Information Network (PIN) data.
“It’s important to keep in mind that BPMH tab has not been confirmed or vetted by a pharmacist, and only includes information generated from within the system,” says Jim. “If batch uploads haven’t gone through, the most current information will not be available to populate the BPMH.”
In fact, ACP has received reports of health care professionals assuming, as the name might suggest, the BPMH has been vetted by a health professional. If pharmacy dispensing data is unknowingly missing from PIN, this omission could result in harm to patients.
Since the information in Netcare can be used by health professionals for providing health services, conducting research, or generating reports, it’s important that we do our part to ensure it’s as accurate and current as possible.
Watch for additional information on BPMH in future editions of The Link.
