Information Systems:Updating PharmaCare alternatives data in Infonet
Background
PharmaCare makes information on Low Cost Alternatives and the Reference Drug Program available to be downloaded from their web site. They are updated on the first Thursday of each month. We display this information in Web Orders, and in item file maintenance and display. - NOTE: With the June 2017 process, the webpage location was changed by Pharmacare to http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/practitioner-professional-resources/pharmacare/pharmacies/low-cost-alternative-lca-and-reference-drug-program-rdp-data-files#current
Instructions
The complete process for retrieving and updating these files is in InfoNet / Admin / Upload PharmaCare Info.
There are five steps in this process.
1 - Retrieve LCA spreadsheet from PharmaCare
Click here to open the current Low Cost Alternatives spreadsheet from PharmaCare's web site. Then save it to your PC as CSV (comma delimited).
2 - Retrieve RDP spreadsheet from PharmaCare
Click here to open the current Reference Drug Program spreadsheet from PharmaCare's web site. Then save it to your PC as CSV (comma delimited).
3 - Upload Low Cost Alternatives CSV file to the System i.
Click on 'Browse' to find and select the file you retrieved from PharmaCare. Select file type LCE, then click on 'Upload'.
4 - Upload Reference Drug Program CSV file to the System i.
Click on 'Browse' to find and select the file you retrieved from PharmaCare. Select file type RDP, then click on 'Upload'.
5 - Update PharmaCare data file on the System i
Click on 'Update' to rebuild the file on the System i. The program will attempt to clear the file before loading the new data, but will not be able to if it is in use. In that case, the program will update the existing records. The drawback to this, is that items that have been removed from the programs will remain on the file until the next time it can be successfully cleared.
You will get a message telling you whether or not the file could be cleared. If it couldn't be, you can redo step 5 until it can be; first thing in the morning is the best time to try.
Expected file format
The programs that parse and process the LCA and RDP files expect certain fields to be in certain columns. The LCA file occasionally changes, thus requiring an edit before it can be processed properly.
| Column name | Expected field |
|---|---|
| A | LCA Category no. |
| B | DIN |
| C | Chemical name |
| D | Drug name |
| E | MAN |
| F | Full/Partial LCA Benefit |
| G | Plan B Only |
| H | RDP |
| I | SA |
| J | PROV |
| K | Pan-Canadian |
| L | Tiered Pricing Categories |
| M | Max Price |
| N | LCA Price |