A system wide computer crash affecting the health benefits plan that serves Canada’s Aboriginal people has been a learning experience for the Saskatchewan Pharmacists’ Association.
The computer program that handles the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program crashed on Dec. 9 and took four days to restore.
The lengthy delay created confusion among pharmacists as they struggled to process program claims and today they are dealing with a backlog.
Nearly 900,000 Aboriginal people are enrolled in this medical plan.
Dawn Martin, executive director of the Saskatchewan Pharmacists’ Association, says notification of the computer crash was a little slow.
Martin adds because some pharmacists were unsure of how to proceed, a number of patients were charged up front which should not have happened.
Computer glitches with the Non-Insured Health Benefits Program are not uncommon but the last time one of this magnitude occurred was in 2005.