Data Automation FAQs

Why is Doctor Care Anywhere moving to an SFTP?

Doctor Care Anywhere are moving to an SFTP system to allow your organisation to securely upload your employee data using a streamlined template SFTP, which is a secure file transfer protocol and is an optimal way of securely transferring files.

You will be able to access a full history of data that has been uploaded as well real time updates on any errors that have occurred whilst the data is processed via Doctor Care Anywhere validation checks. Overall, the SFTP is safer, faster whilst ensuring greater accuracy of the data Doctor Care Anywhere ingests.

What does this mean for me as a client?

The process will allow you to upload files to Doctor Care Anywhere's SFTP. Once you have migrated to the new data process, it will allow you to securely upload your employee data, view historic data uploads and overall, the SFTP will allow for greater accuracy of the data ingested by Doctor Care Anywhere.

Will I receive any support?

Prior to the migration, you will be provided with the following documents that will support you through the new process:

How To Videos
How To guide
Frequently asked question

Each of the above contain step by step instructions to ensure a smooth transition. Your Customer Success Manager will also be available to provide on hand support and training.

What do I do if my account has been locked?

Your account may be locked for a number of reasons (i.e. unexpected number of records uploaded)

If you account is locked, you will not be able to upload any further files until we can confirm the data is valid. Once the data has been corrected or confirmed as valid and the filename has been updated, inform your Customer Success Manager and they will disregard any invalid files.

How to send Doctor Care Anywhere files?

Files will be sent to a SFTP hosted by Doctor Care Anywhere. You will need to speak to your internal IT team and or InfoSec team to confirm if there is a list of approved SFTP’s for your company.

Once your SFTP is set up Doctor Care Anywhere will provide you with Log-in details that are unique to your company and schedule a meeting to confirm the data file configuration for your company. You will also be provided with an account number which will form part of the file name again this is unique to your company. This will begin with ‘ACC’.

Once logged into the SFTP You will only have access to your company folders, the following folder structure will be created for your company:

From Client

Delta
Full

From DCA

Account Status
Content Rejected Files

Please be aware, you may only place files in the “Delta” or “Full” folders. You will not be able to delete any folders or files once they have been placed in the folders. You may download files generated by DCA from the “Account Status” and “Content Rejected” folders. We would recommend you download the files and then export from an TXT file to an Excel file.

How do I delete a file from the SFTP?

Once a file has been placed in the SFTP it cannot be removed or deleted. To delete a file, please contact itsupport@doctorcareanywhere.com and the team will raise a ticket with the Doctor Care Anywhere IT service desk.

Can the data automation process be used with files manually created in Excel?

Yes, there is a template that can be used in Excel, and instructions on how to export the completed excel document to make a properly formatted tab separated csv file. Further details can be found within the ‘Client Data Specification’ document, on how to fill this in.

What to be aware of when sending Doctor Care Anywhere files?

When sending Doctor Care Anywhere files, please follow the guidelines set out in the ‘Client Data Specification’ document.

Please note, files with incorrect naming convention, missing or incorrect data will be rejected and placed under review.

A file placed under review is eventually entirely passed or rejected. Files cannot be partially processed. DCA will liaise with you on whether a file should be passed or rejected.

Files are processed strictly in the order of the date and time specified in the filename. Multiple files can be uploaded at once, but they must have unique filenames and will be processed in the order of the filename timestamps.

Each file must have a filename timestamp that is later than the last file processed. It is not possible to submit a file with a filename timestamp earlier than other files.

Each file must have a unique name. Files may be submitted more than once, but they must be renamed with a filename timestamp that has never been used before and is also later than the last filename submitted. Please see ‘What happens I sends a file that has a bad filename?’ for further details.

When are files processed by Doctor Care Anywhere?

The data automation process is currently configured to process files at 6 AM and 1PM

This means files will be processed at these times every day. When the document has successfully passed all validation checks it will then await upload within our system.

How do I know if the file has been rejected?

At the start of this process each client is configured with a single email account for notifications. Notifications for each file submitted will be sent to this address.

Soon after you have uploaded a file to an SFTP you will receive an email. The automated email will either inform you, if the upload has been successful, rejected or placed under review.

If a file is rejected, the email will offer you some guidance as to what the error may be (i.e. invalid file name, invalid data etc)

What happens if the file name is being rejected?

If your file name is being rejected, you must check that the name contains the following information in the correct order:

Unique account number i.e. ACC-000011293 (provided by DCA)
The file type i.e. FULL or DELTA
The date you are saving the file in American format i.e. 2023_10_01

(please note single digits must be prefixed with a 0)

The time you save the file in 24hour clock format i.e. 18_53_01

(please note single digits must be prefixed with a 0)

EXTENSION – The file should be saved as TXT, as a result you do not need to manually type TXT

Example of a successful file name: ACC-000011293_DELTA_2022_11_17_23_34_01.txt

If you require any further assistance with this error, please check your unique account number is correct and the date and time of upload is as accurate as possible.

For any further queries, please email Accountmanagment@doctorcareanywhere.com. Please ensure that no attachments or personal information is included in any emails sent to this address.

How do I find out and resolve invalid content?

If a file is rejected because of invalid content, a file with more information will be loaded by Doctor Care Anywhere into the FromDca > ContentRejectedFiles SFTP folder.

This error may have occurred as result of the following:

Missing emails
Incorrect number of dependent
Names that are too long

Doctor Care Anywhere will upload a file with validation errors on each row failing validation. In order to access the file, please log on to the SFTP and click on the folder labelled ‘From DCA’ and then ‘ContentRejectedFiles’.

In order to view the errors within the file, in an excel format, please complete the following steps:

Right click the rejected file
Click ‘Download (F5)’ and then select ‘Download’
Choose the location you wish the file to be saved too and click ‘OK’
Open a blank excel doc and Select ‘Data’
Select Get Data from Text/CSV
Select file and Import.
Load Data

Once the data has loaded, if there is an error with the data in one of the columns, a number will be shown in the final column (Total Validation). The number displayed will identify how many errors are within the column. For example, if the number is 1 there is one error in one column. The column with the error will have the same number.

Please check your data and upload a new file with data meeting our formatting and validation rule requirements (as outlined in our Client Specification document).

Once invalid data has been corrected, please note that a new filename must be used for any corrected file as Doctor Care Anywhere cannot accept duplicated filenames (i.e., a new time of most recent upload)

Once all the changes have been made for the file provided to Doctor Care Anywhere, a new file will be loaded into the FromDca/AccountStatus FTP folder. This file lists the details and status of each member and will allow you to confirm that the information Doctor Care Anywhere holds is correct.

What happens if a file is sent with missing columns, or columns in the wrong order?

If a file has been rejected due to a bad errors with the columns, both yourself and Doctor Care Anywhere will receive an email notification.

Every column is required by every client, and in the order specified by the Client File Specification. Depending on the client, some columns can always be left blank, but they must be included.

You must refer to the Client files Specification, fix any problems and resubmit the file with a new filename.