Reconciling payments

Community Pharmacy England recommends pharmacy owners always take steps to reconcile their NHS payments, i.e. what was processed or claimed for from the NHS compared to what has been reimbursed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), to identify any potential errors.

 We have various resources to help you with monitoring payments on this webpage.

EPS

• Check that the monthly total figures you submit, match up with what the NHSBSA receive and price. Visit  cpe.org.uk/epstotals for a step-by-step process of how to do this for EPS.
• The Manage Your Service (MYS) portal has features that can assist your submission such as automated checking that the inputted number of EPS forms is smaller than the inputted EPS items.
• Download the Prescription Item Report for your records each month. See Step-by-step guide to getting Prescription Item Reports. Some specialist IT suppliers use these Prescription Item Report spreadsheet files to assist you with more advanced reconciliation.
• Save your submission confirmation email received from MYS for your records and for use when reconciling payments.
• Check that Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) total item numbers claimed aligns with what you were subsequently reimbursed for.
• Download electronic Schedules of Payment each month for your records as these make it easier to analyse your data.

Services

• Check that service delivery performed is being fully communicated to the NHSBSA, including where your CPCF IT services system supplier automatically transmits data using MYS APIs. If there are issues with the CPCF IT services totals not matching what appears in MYS, then in the first instance raise a query your system supplier to ask them to investigate the discrepancy in the totals. Our IT escalation route guidance explains how to escalate issues if the issue is not resolved by your system supplier.
• Save your submission confirmation email received from MYS for your records and for use when reconciling payments.
• Check that the monthly total figures you submit, match up with what the NHSBSA receive and price. Read our Reconciling service submission totals factsheet which applies to Advanced services, such as Pharmacy First.

Claim acknowledgements

IT system suppliers can choose to develop claim acknowledgement features for EPS and CPCF IT services. These features confirm within your IT system those claims which were submitted and received by the NHS. Ask your system supplier whether this functionality is available.

Related resources

Information Services Portal (ISP) by the NHSBSA

Using your Schedule of Payment to monitor performance

Dispensing Factsheet: Prescription Returns

Dispensing Factsheet: Prescription Switching

Dispensing Factsheet: Using Your Schedule of Payments to Monitor Performance

Return to Monthly payments or Payment and accuracy

For more information on this topic please email it@cpe.org.uk