SO001 External Clinician Dictionary - External Clinicians, Suppliers (like Pharmacies), and Agencies

External Clinician Dictionary entries are normally managed by the clinics' Super Users. We will only proceed with the below steps if there is an urgent need by the clinic and their Super User is away.

Standard Order Category:	Category 1
Who should fulfill this SO?	SO Analyst
Link to the SO request form:	http://communitysystems.vch.ca/published/UR_-_External_Clinician_Dictionary_(VCH).pdf

Reminder to please follow the Standard Order Guidelines on top of the specific instructions outlined below.

Background
     Turnaround Time
Prerequisite: Requester to Complete the SO Request Form
Prerequisite: Search for Existing Record
Prerequisite: Determine How to Proceed with Request
Prerequisite: Validate According to Source of Truth
Fulfillment Instructions
     Add External Clinician
          Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source
     Add External Supplier
     Add External Agency
     Modify Existing Record
     Inactivate Existing Record
Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary
Appendix 2: Restore Incorrectly Modified External Clinician Dictionary
 

Background

The External Clinician Dictionary is the directory of healthcare clinicians and organisation contact information for referring, ordering, and correspondence workflows. The linked contact information is then used to print prescriptions, populate care team, referrals, letters and forms, etc.

The External Clinician Dictionary is managed internally to prevent duplicates and its resulting clinical impacts. Historically, the Super User role had the ability to manage the External Clinician Dictionary (2024 and earlier). 

The External Clinician Dictionary consists of three groups:

1. External Clinicians (e.g., primary care providers and specialists who do not document in this VCH instance of Profile EMR)
2. External Suppliers (e.g., pharmacies and laboratories)
3. External Agencies (e.g., hospitals and other organizations who do not document in this VCH instance of Profile EMR)

Turnaround Time

As external clinicians are used throughout clinical and administrative workflows, this is the HIGHEST priority standard order with a goal of turnaround time of 30min-1hr. Communication to end users would be a goal of one business day. Workaround during out of office hours is pending.

Prerequisite: Requester to Complete the SO Request Form

If a request was received for this Standard Order but without using the SO request form, send the form's URL link to the requester. After receiving the form submission, ensure all the mandatory fields are completed before proceeding. If not, discuss further with the requester.

Prerequisite: Search for Existing Record

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Change view filter to All external clinicians (as thisi includes both Active and Inactive records)

3. Search for existing record by:

• Identifier (i.e., MSP ID) or
• Name or
  • For last names with spaces or hyphens, also try as separate terms (e.g., De Vlaming or DeVlaming or De-Vlaming)
  • For 2-letter last names, use "LastName," format to search (i.e., "Ng,")
     
• Phone

Hint! You may use the % sign in front of your search. The % sign is like the *asterisk in that it acts as a wildcard.

4. Click Search button

5. Note 4 fields: Identifier/Name, Address, Phone, and Fax

Prerequisite: Determine How to Proceed with Request

Type of Match After Search	Request to Add or Modify	Request to Delete or Inactivate
Full Match Same Identifier/Name, and Same Address, and Same Phone, and Same Fax	If existing Inactive record: set Status to Active and notify requestor If existing Active record: contact request with instructions on how to find record Otherwise, Complete the Request	[Inactivate External Clinician Dictionary Record] Do NOT delete!
Name-only Match Same Identifier/Name, but Different Address/Phone/Fax	Call provider/supplier/agency: If additional location, Complete the Request If moved or old contact is no longer valid, Inactivate Existing Record previous record and Complete the Request	Follow up with requestor to identify correct record.
Mixed Match Same Identifier/Name/Address but different Phone/Fax, or Same Identifier/Name/Phone/Fax but different Address	Call provider/supplier/agency: If verified as name change or typo error, Modify Existing Record If verified as phone/fax change, Modify Existing Record If moved or old contact is no longer valid, Inactivate Existing Record previous record and Complete the Request	Follow up with requestor to identify correct record.
No Match	Complete the Request	Follow up with requestor to identify correct record.

Prerequisite: Validate According to Source of Truth

Validate the request against the corresponding College Registry:

• Physicians: College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia - Registrant Directory
• Nurse Practitioners: British Columbia College of Nurses & Midwives - Registry
• Pharmacies: College of Pharmacists of British Columbia - Find a Pharmacy
• LifeLabs: LifeLabs Location Finder
• VCH Locations: One VCH Location Service

If there are no matches, call the phone number provided by requestor to verify request.

You may also need to call to verify any part of the request.

Fulfillment Instructions

Add External Clinician
Add External Supplier
Add External Agency
Modify Existing Record
Inactivate Existing Record

Add External Clinician

WARNING! Only proceed after it is confirmed that there is no existing record to prevent duplicate creation AND the information is verified with a source of truth!

Pre-requisite:

1. Review External Clinician Dictionary Request

2. Search for Existing Record

3. Determine How to Proceed with Request

4. Validate According to Source of Truth

Steps:

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Click on New External Clinician icon

3. Enter the following information: (blue and bold = mandatory)

Code	For providers within BC, set Code to D1_XXXXX (where XXXXX is MSP ID). If provider works at another address, set Code to D2_XXXXX and so on. For providers outside of BC, leave Code blank. It will auto generate when you click Apply.
Full Name	Legal name as it displays on Source of Truth [Title] [First Name] [Middle Name, optional] [Last Name] Format sample: Dr. Jane Ann Doe
Last Name	Last name
Title	Dr./NP or Blank
Preferred name	Preferred Name, if known, otherwise First Name
Organisation	Leave blank
Org Name	Leave blank   Analyst - Enter "DO NOT ALTER RECORD" if used by a form, etc.
Type	See Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source
Specialty	See Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source
Status	Active
Reference Source	See Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source
Reference Value	See Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source
Street	[Unit Number]-[Civic Number] [Street Name and Type in abbreviated format] See Canada Post Addressing Guidelines Format sample: 100-234 Main St
City	Municipality or City
Province	Province (defaults to BC)
Postcode	Postal Code (uppercase with the first three characters separated from the last three by one space) Format sample: V2V 1X3
Building	Name of the clinic or hospital
Country	Country (defaults to Canada)
Use Street	Keep checkbox ticked
Phone 1	Phone number If there is an extension, use format 604 555 5555 x1234567
Phone 2	Leave blank
Fax	Fax number
Cell Phone	Cell phone number
Pager	Pager number
Email	Email address

4. Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

5. Click OK to save and close

Appendix1: External Clinician Type, Specialty, and Reference Source

BC Clinicians without MSP ID (e.g., medical students, optometrists) should be Type: Paramedical.

Provider	Type	Specialty	Reference Source	Reference Value
BC Primary Care Provider (including Nurse Practitioners)	Medical	General Practice	MSP Practitioner ID	MSP ID with preceding zeros (i.e., 000123, not 123)
BC Specialist	Medical	Select from dropdown or Other if not found	MSP Practitioner ID	MSP ID
Non-provider (e.g., nurse)	Paramedical	Select from dropdown or Other if not found	Other	Blank
Non-BC Primary Care Provider (including Nurse Practitioners)	Medical	General Practice	Other	99998
Non-BC Specialist	Medical	Select from dropdown	Other	99998

Add External Supplier

WARNING! Only proceed after it is confirmed that there is no existing record to prevent duplicate creation AND the information is verified with a source of truth!

Pre-requisite:

1. Review External Clinician Dictionary Request

2. Search for Existing Record

3. Determine How to Proceed with Request

4. Validate According to Source of Truth

Steps:

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Click on New External Clinician icon

3. Enter the following information: (blue and bold = mandatory)

Code	Leave blank Code will auto-generate when you click Apply.
Full Name	[Supplier Name, as it shows on Source of Truth] - [City] [Street Address, if more than one in the same city] ([Store ID]) Pharmacy Format sample: Safeway Pharmacy - Vancouver, 8475 Granville St (4976) Pharmacy Format sample: Vancouver General Hospital Pharmacy - Vancouver Pathology Format sample: LifeLabs - Richmond, 3811 Chatham St (Steveston PSC) Pathology Format sample: Richmond Hospital Laboratory - Richmond Radiology Format sample: Brooke Radiology - Richmond, 5791 No 3 Rd Radiology Format sample: qathet General Hospital Radiology - Powell River
Last Name	Any additional keyword that can help with search such as Acronyms
Title	Leave blank
Preferred name	Any additional keyword that can help with search such as Acronyms
Organisation	Leave blank
Org Name	Leave blank Analyst - Enter "DO NOT ALTER RECORD" if used by a form, etc.
Type	Suppliers
Specialty	Pharmacy / Pathology / Radiology Important! There are similar Specialties under Type: Agencies - DO NOT USE!
Status	Active
Reference Source	Other
Reference Value	Pharmacy: PHARM Pathology: PATH Radiology: RAD
Street	[Unit Number]-[Civic Number] [Street Name and Type in abbreviated format] See Canada Post Addressing Guidelines Format sample: 100-234 Main St
City	Municipality or City
Province	Province (defaults to BC)
Postcode	Postal Code (uppercase with the first three characters separated from the last three by one space) Format sample: V2V 1X3
Building	Name of the clinic or hospital
Country	Country (defaults to Canada)
Use Street	Keep checkbox ticked
Phone 1	Phone number If there is an extension, use format 604 555 5555 x1234567
Phone 2	Leave blank
Fax	Fax number
Cell Phone	Cell phone number
Pager	Pager number
Email	Email address

4. Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

5. Click OK to save and close

Add External Agency

WARNING! Only proceed after it is confirmed that there is no existing record to prevent duplicate creation AND the information is verified with a source of truth!

Pre-requisite:

1. Review External Clinician Dictionary Request

2. Search for Existing Record

3. Determine How to Proceed with Request

4. Validate According to Source of Truth

Steps:

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Click on New External Clinician icon

3. Enter the following information: (blue and bold = mandatory)

Code	Leave blank Code will auto-generate when you click Apply.
Full Name	[Agency Name] [Identifying Code] - [City] [Street Address] Format sample: Apple Tree Maternity Only add City and/or Street Address if there is more than one with same name
Last Name	Any additional keyword that can help with search such as Acronyms
Title	Leave blank
Preferred name	Any additional keyword that can help with search such as Acronyms
Organisation	Leave blank
Org Name	Leave blank Analyst - Enter "DO NOT ALTER RECORD" if used by a form, etc.
Type	Agencies
Specialty	Clinic / Hospital / Other Important! Do not use Pharmacy / Pathology / Radiology
Status	Active
Reference Source	Other
Reference Value	Leave blank
Street	[Unit Number]-[Civic Number] [Street Name and Type in abbreviated format] See Canada Post Addressing Guidelines Format sample: 100-234 Main St
City	Municipality or City
Province	Province (defaults to BC)
Postcode	Postal Code (uppercase with the first three characters separated from the last three by one space) Format sample: V2V 1X3
Building	Name of the clinic or hospital
Country	Country (defaults to Canada)
Use Street	Keep checkbox ticked
Phone 1	Phone number If there is an extension, use format 604 555 5555 x1234567
Phone 2	Leave blank
Fax	Fax number
Cell Phone	Cell phone number
Pager	Pager number
Email	Email address

4. Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

5. Click OK to save and close

Modify Existing Record

There are only a few reasons why you would Edit an Existing Record - name change (like from maiden to married name), errors (like a typos) or a change in phone or fax.

Pre-requisite:

1. Review External Clinician Dictionary Request

2. Search for Existing Record

3. Determine How to Proceed with Request

4. Validate According to Source of Truth

Steps:

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Identify the External Clinician record and double-click to open.

3. In General tab, modify the record as requested.

4. Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

5. Click OK to save and close

Inactivate Existing Record

WARNING! Only proceed after it is confirmed that there is no existing record to prevent duplicate creation AND the information is verified with a source of truth!

Pre-requisite:

Pre-requisite:

1. Review External Clinician Dictionary Request

2. Search for Existing Record

3. Determine How to Proceed with Request

4. Validate According to Source of Truth

Steps:

1. Navigate to Organisation > External Clinicians on the menu bar. The External Clinicians window opens.

2. Identify the External Clinician record and double-click to open.

3. In General tab, change Status to Inactive.

4. Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

5. Click OK to save and close

Document Changes to the External Clinician Dictionary

All changes are tracked in Notes tab as well as on JIRA.

1. Navigate to Notes tab

2. Enter typing template: ext\

• <<Added>><<Modified>><<Inactivated>> external clinician dictionary record (see JIRA EMR-<<####>>) - [signature and date/time stamp]

Hint! Use F4 to tab through the chevrons for ease of editing the typing template.

3. Update text with action (keep one action between Added/Modified/Inactivated) and add JIRA number

Appendix 2: Restore Incorrectly Modified External Clinician Dictionary

This process outlines the steps to restore an External Clinician dictionary entry (e.g., pharmacy) that has been unintentionally modified and needs to be reverted to its original state. Intake approval is not required. 

This work consists of two major steps, Urgent restoration and Full Investigation & Follow up. 

1. Create story Jira: Investigate and Restore <external clinician name>

2. Create Sub-task Jira: SO001 External Clinician Dictionary - Restore <external clinician name>

Urgent Restoration (Standard Order)
Restore the incorrectly modified External Clinician dictionary entry back to its previous validated state to minimize operational impact.

• Checking older environment like Support, QA1, or QI, or
• Requesting DEV to run the External clinician entry audit - SQL:

• select prov.VERSION, prov.PPPU_FULLNAME, createpppu.PPPU_FULLNAME as createdbyname, prov.DELETED as deleteddate, delbypppu.PPPU_FULLNAME as deletedbyname, * from PPPU prov
  LEFT JOIN CDO_PERSON delbyper on delbyper.OID = prov.DELETEDBY
  LEFT JOIN PPPU delbypppu on delbypppu.PPPU_ID = delbyper.REAL_ID 
  LEFT JOIN CDO_PERSON createper on createper.OID = prov.CREATEDBY
  LEFT JOIN PPPU createpppu on createpppu.PPPU_ID = createper.REAL_ID 
  where prov.PPPU_CODE = '223446' or prov.PPPU_CODE = '223446A'
  order by prov.VERSION asc

• NOTE: DeletedDate reflects the modification timestamp and DeletedByName indicates the user who made the change. A future DeletedDate (e.g., Dec 31, 3000) with NULL indicates the current active record.
  

Full Investigation & Follow-Up 

• Pull Client list attached to External Clinician using the ihq file attached here
• CIS to review how wide the impact is - was the modified external clinician used in care teams that will be impacted by the reverted changes
• CIS to determine communications - email to requestor and end user only? headline? special bulletin? (note known issue re: non-super users being able to modify external clinician dictionary - link Jira)
• Notify end user who incorrectly modified the external clinician