8.12 Payments to Providers

General Policy Description

Each week, PharmaCare processes payments to pharmacies and device providers and remits the payments by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

Policy details

Applying for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

Payments to providers are deposited electronically into a designated account at a financial institution as specified on the Direct Deposit Application form. This form must be mailed, along with an original void cheque, to

PharmaCare Information Support
PharmaCare
P.O. Box 9655 Stn Prov. Govt.
Victoria B.C.  V8W 9P2

Providers must also submit a Direct Deposit Application form to PharmaCare when

• The EFT bank account changes, or
• Any other information about the EFT bank transaction changes.

Direct Deposit Application forms are available upon request from PharmaCare Information Support. 

Only Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Direct Deposit Application form should be completed. If an original void cheque is not attached to the form, then the “Bank or Financial Institution Verification” section in Part 2 must be completed.

A provider representative must sign in the “Supplier/Employee Signature” area of Part 3 of the Direct Deposit Application form. If the form is not signed, Health Insurance BC will return it unprocessed.

Information about payments

The first electronic deposit is made approximately eight to 12 weeks after receipt of the Direct Deposit Application form. Ongoing payments by EFT are scheduled for deposit on the Monday following the end of each payment period.

If, for any reason, the EFT payment cannot be deposited to the bank account on file with PharmaCare, the funds are returned to the Ministry of Finance.

Changes to banking information

When a provider changes its banking information for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), PharmaCare must receive a completed Direct Deposit Application form and a void cheque for the new account at least eight to 12 weeks before the change takes effect. This ensures that EFT payments will not be interrupted due to the change.

The old account must be left open until a payment has been received in the new account.

Accessing provider payment data on PharmaNet

Pharmacy Remittance Advice Forms are sent only to

• Suppliers who are not connected to PharmaNet
• Providers, dispensing physicians/clinics, or non pharmaceutical suppliers if payment adjustments have been made

​All payments processed as adjustments (including Plan B capitation rates and Methadone Maintenance Program interaction fees) are included in the final payment run of each month. Providers receive payment at the end of the month following the month of service.

Payment data (except payment adjustment information) can be accessed on PharmaNet using the Daily Totals (TDT) retrieval transaction. 

All Pharmacy Software Vendor (PSV) products contain the Retrieve Daily Totals feature although it may be called by a different name. Providers can consult their software user manual or call their vendor for information on using this feature.

To calculate your expected remittance amount, add the Daily Totals for a payment period.

This summary of payment for a pay period may already be provided by your PSV product or by your current accounting procedures.

The payment period is Tuesday to Monday, with payments scheduled for deposit on the following Monday. (For example, for the payment period August 4, 2009, to August 10, 2009, the day of deposit would be August 17, 2009.) A statutory holiday would delay the deposit.

Daily Totals data are available only for the current date and the preceding 45 days. If you require payment data from before that period, contact the PharmaNet Help Desk. The Help Desk can retrieve earlier data on request.