8.17 Medication Administration Program (MAP)
Last updated on July 13, 2026General policy description
From July 15, 2026, to January 2027, PharmaCare will pay a service fee of $8 per patient per day for each day that services are provided to the patient through the temporary Medication Administration Program (MAP). The fee is only paid to pharmacies that have been approved by PharmaCare with an approved patient roster.
MAP is intended for eligible B.C. residents with complex medication needs who require support with medication administration at home.
Approved pharmacies should ensure they know the entire contents of this section of the PharmaCare Policy Manual before delivering and submitting claims for MAP.
Policy details
MAP services
MAP services must be provided by a:
- B.C. licensed healthcare professional acting within their regulated scope of practice, or
- Care aide registered* with the BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry and acting within their trained role as outlined in the Registry’s Health Care Assistant Care Activities Chart (PDF, 270KB)
*To confirm the registration status of a care aide (HCA), pharmacies may ask the HCA to provide a registration confirmation letter. They can download this letter by logging into their account on the BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry and clicking on “Print Registration Confirmation”. The auto-generated letter will contain the HCA’s registration status and number. Only HCAs with active registration in good standing can access the registration confirmation letter.
If there is a change in the licensed healthcare professionals or care aides who provide MAP services on the pharmacy’s behalf, pharmacies must inform PharmaCare by completing and submitting HLTH 4576 - MAP Health Professional Change (PDF, 531KB).
Services must include:
- Administration of medications, including injection-based therapies at the patient’s home, or for those who do not have a permanent address, their temporary place of stay (pharmacies should review Section 8.10—Pharmacist Administration of Drugs and Vaccines)
Services may include:
- Clinical assessment and monitoring, including monitoring of vital signs, and other physical assessment if necessary for therapy adjustments
- Coordinating care with other healthcare providers such as prescribers, mental health teams, and case managers, if necessary or requested by the client
Patient eligibility
Patients must be enrolled in the Medical Services Plan (MSP) and must be listed on the pharmacy’s MAP Patient Roster to be eligible. They must also meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Significant physical, functional, or cognitive disabilities or barriers preventing them from safely self-administering injection-based therapies such as insulin or low-molecular weight heparins
- Referred by a health authority-based licensed healthcare professional, and are on at least one medication requiring daily monitoring and dose adjustment
- Enrolled through program affiliations or contractual agreements that existed on or before June 1, 2026, with health authorities or non-profit health service delivery organizations serving older adults (50+) or individuals requiring substance use care
- Actively followed by community mental health teams and require supervised medication administration and adherence monitoring to support ongoing psychiatric stability
PharmaCare will review and confirm eligibility for all patients. Pharmacies will be informed of any patients on their MAP Patient Roster who are not accepted.
Pharmacy eligibility
Pharmacies were required to obtain prior approval from PharmaCare to be eligible for MAP. Approved pharmacies were contacted by PharmaCare to submit their MAP Patient Roster by June 19, 2026.
Service eligibility
Services covered under MAP
Services must include direct support with medication administration. This includes:
- Administering oral medications, injectables, inhalers, eyedrops and patches (including fentanyl patch changes)
- Assisting with the administration of medications, including "supervising* clients during self-administration" and all activities listed under the "Medication Related Activities" group on the Health Care Assistant Care Activities Chart (PDF, 270KB)
*"Supervising" means overseeing and guiding clients as they prepare and administer medications.
Services not covered under MAP when provided in isolation
The following activities are not eligible for MAP payment if they are not accompanied by at least one of the services described above:
- Daily dispensing
- Delivery
- Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) witnessing
- Daily witnessed ingestion of any medications; witnessing is defined as having a neutral third party confirming that the clients has physically taken or applied the prescribed dose
- Blood pressure monitoring
- Blood glucose monitoring
- OAT monitoring
- Clozapine monitoring
- Mental health checks
- Wellness checks
- Dose adjustment activities, including warfarin dosing
For a claim to be approved, both the client and the service provided must fall under the eligibility criteria as described in this policy section.
Procedures
Submitting claims
Pharmacies fully enrolled in MAP will enter the MAP fee PIN to submit claims for eligible services. The MAP fee is $8 per patient per day on which the services are provided.
Claims must be submitted on the day the MAP service is provided. Claims submitted on a different date will not be paid and/or will be subject to recovery.
When submitting claims for the MAP fee through PharmaNet, participating pharmacies must use the following standardized format in the SIG field.
Format: [service type]_[medication name]
Include the service provided, followed by an underscore and the name of at least one medication associated with the service.
The following service types should be used:
| Service type | Description |
|---|---|
| Administration | Direct administration of a medication by a pharmacy employee |
| Supervised | Supervision of a client self-administering a medication |
| Support | Medication adherence or self-administration support, such as medication reminders, reading labels, opening blister packs or containers, dose measurement, or assistance with product use |
Examples:
- administration_insulin
- supervised_levothyroxine
- support_apixiban
Required documentation
All MAP services must be documented using a Service Log. Pharmacies are responsible for maintaining the log, as well as other documents that support patient eligibility. Claims for MAP will be subject to recovery if the log does not include all the required information or if it is not filled out correctly.
A sample MAP Service Log (PDF, 633KB) is available as a reference. Pharmacies may use the template or create their own log to record required information.
Audit
All claims to PharmaCare are subject to audit and any amount associated with a disallowed claim will be recovered.
For information on PharmaCare audit policies, refer to Section 10—Audit of this manual.