As of July 1, 2017, the only TPP prescriptions you will need to send to the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) are prescriptions for compounded medications, office use, veterinary, and prescriptions from the Yukon.
Information regarding all other TPP prescriptions is provided to CPSA from dispensing events that are uploaded to Netcare. Currently, TPP data clerks sort through around 600,000 prescriptions a year just to find the prescriptions for compounded medications, office use, veterinary, or out of province prescriptions.
“From an operational perspective, it doesn’t make sense to sort through all the TPP prescriptions when such a large percentage is available from Netcare,” said Dale Cooney, Chair of the TPP Committee and ACP’s Deputy Registrar. “Since TPP is funded by the province and partner organizations, it’s important to look for efficiencies where possible. Asking pharmacists to send only copies of prescriptions where information is not available from Netcare allows program resources to be directed to where they are most needed.”
Please continue to mail TPP prescriptions for compounded medications, office use, veterinary, and the Yukon in the envelopes provided on a weekly basis. As for the rest of the TPP prescriptions, you can simply keep both copies – including the one you would normally send to CPSA – on file at your pharmacy. Alberta physicians have been instructed to continue providing two copies to the patient, so that is what you should expect to receive. You may need to adjust your workflow slightly to accommodate this change.
For more information, please visit the TPP resource page found on the CPSA website.
