Hospital
ePACT.net
Questions
and Answers
What
is Hospital ePACT.net?
Hospital ePACT.net is a new service being offered to Trusts
whereby they can receive electronic information about their
prescriptions which are dispensed in the Community. This information
is supplied with an analysis tool (Hospital ePACT.net) which
will allow you to analyse your prescribing information.
What
are the benefits of doing this ?
The benefits of receiving electronic information are:
- Prescribing
information is received approximately 5 weeks after the
end of the dispensing month instead of 16 weeks.
- There
is improved financial monitoring as information arrives
sooner.
- Improved
performance management and monitoring of prescribing
- It
allows identification of non formulary prescribing.
- It
facilitates monitoring of particular drug areas e.g. high
cost drugs guidance.
- Data
builds up to 3 years.
- The
electronic analysis package supports monitoring of trends
and production of expenditure reports. It allows flexible
manipulation of data to produce graphs, reports and comparisons.
- There
is an improved ability to forecast future spend.
- There
will be no need for a recharge provision.
- It
assists with commissioning of services.
- All
Trusts will receive pre-printed prescription forms thus
saving resources within the Trusts as hand-stamping of forms
is no longer required.
- From
April 2004 only green forms can be ordered, thereby supporting
the DH initiative to reduce the number of types of prescription
forms in circulation.
- This
supports the principles set out in Delivering 21st Century
IT for the NHS which encourages the use of electronic rather
than paper information.
- Chief
Pharmacists' time is saved (one Chief Pharmacist stated
that he can now do in a couple of hours what used to take
him two days to achieve).
There
is no charge to Trusts for this service.
How
do I join the scheme ?
Contact Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) helpdesk (tel:
0191 203 5050, e-mail: help@ppa.nhs.uk)
and request a Hospital ePACT.net information pack.
Who
has been using the system ?
The system has been used by 40 Trusts across the country,
on average, for a period of at least 6 months. Ten trusts
have joined more recently and 22 are preparing to join.
Codes
Why
do I need to recode ?
The Organisational Codes Service (OCS) issue codes to be used
by all NHS organisations. Recoding ensures that you can utilise
the OCS standard whereby one code can be used to identify
your organisation throughout the NHS.
How
should I allocate codes within my Trust ?
The experience of the pilot sites and feedback from road shows
has shown that prescribing codes should normally be allocated
at speciality level for an acute Trust and by geographic site
for mental health Trusts, to be most appropriate and practical.
Can
I allocate a code to each consultant ?
Yes, this is possible, although the experience of the larger
Trusts has shown that doing this will be onerous and difficult
to manage, so it is not recommended. The pilot sites found
that allocating codes at speciality level gave sufficient
detail for analysis without providing an unacceptable burden
in administering and storing pads. They also felt that if
they had allocated codes to each consultant, this would significantly
increase prescription wastage when consultants moved.
Can
I reallocate the codes at a later date ?
Yes, however, the scripts containing historic data for the
old codes cannot be "re-allocated" to the new codes.
Consequently the two codes will be seen within Hospital ePACT.net
making trends and analysis more difficult.
Forms
Are
pre-printed prescription forms more expensive ?
If pads are ordered singly, then due to postage and packing
costs, they will currently be more expensive. The overall
cost of forms to the Trust will be greater if codes are allocated
by consultant. The costs, however, are being reviewed as once
all users move to "green" FP10s, the cost is likely
to reduce as the volume of use increases. These pads of forms
will be pre-printed thereby saving the Trust from having to
hand stamp their prescriptions.
Can I have prescription forms suitable for printing by
computer ?
Yes. These are FP10SSs and there is a formal accreditation
process to ensure the overprinting of details onto the form
is acceptable. Further details can be obtained from the PPA
Helpdesk (tel: 0191 203 5050, e-mail: help@ppa.nhs.uk).
Is
there a published date for the withdrawal of FP10HPs ?
The Department of Health has recently notified all Trusts
that "orange" FP10HPs will be withdrawn from April
2004 and Trusts will no longer be able to order FP10HP pads
from Astron from this date.
Will
the PPA accept "orange" FP10HPs after April 2004
?
Yes. The Department of Health advise that ideally no more
than 3 months stock of any FP10 form should be maintained*.
The PPA will continue to accept scripts up to 6 months after
the change over.
How
do I order the new forms ?
Forms can be ordered from Astron, as now. Contact details
are: NHS Customer Services, Astron, Causeway Distribution
Centre, Oldham Broadway Business Park, Chadderton, Oldham,
OL9 9XD. Telephone: 0161 6832376
Fraud
If
my prescriptions aren't returned, how do I monitor any fraudulent
activity ?
Hospital ePACT.net will allow early identification of any
prescribing outside that area of speciality, any abnormal
trends of prescribing and show where the prescription was
dispensed. If fraudulent activity is suspected, as with GP
forms, the PPA will return suspect scripts for further investigation.
If
I need my prescriptions returned, can I get them ? Will I
be charged ?
Scripts will not routinely be returned. If fraudulent activity
is suspected, the PPA will return suspect scripts for further
investigation, as they do for scripts written by GPs. The
PPA retains paper prescriptions for 14 months. It is currently
not the intention to charge for the return of scripts although
the level of returns will need to be monitored.
How
will I know if the dose or quantity has been altered?
As with GP forms, if the script has been amended in any way,
the PPA or the community pharmacist will refer the form back
to the originator for further investigation.
Audit
procedures within the Trust require documentation. How will
I satisfy this without the scripts ?
Consultants should follow Trust procedures to record information
in the patient's notes at the point of, or following, prescribing
Trust Procedures
If
patients are treated who reside outside my PCT, how do I cross
charge their PCT ?
Trusts involved in the pilot have identified a number of solutions
including consideration within an SLA or reviewing internal
systems to enable the capture/recording of relevant information
e.g. treating scripts for patients outside their PCT in a
similar way to private patients, which has allowed internal
procedures to identify those patients who need to be charged
elsewhere.
Will
I have to pay 14 invoices in a 12 month period ?
The PPA will issue 14 invoices during the first 12 month period
of the new arrangements. However, under resource accounting
procedures, the costs will be attributed to the period in
which they arise.
I
am a Teaching hospital which uses the prescriptions to provide
feedback on prescribing to my junior doctors, how will I do
this ?
Hospital ePACT.net can be used to identify out of formulary
prescribing or unusual trends at speciality level.
How
can we record which drugs a patient has had prescribed and/or
the dosage supplied? The Trust current systems have been set
up to record this information when the script is returned
to them.
Trust internal systems should be in place to record relevant
information on prescribing including recording in the patient
notes at the point of, or following, prescribing.
Hospital ePACT.net
Is
there a charge associated with receiving Hospital ePACT.net
?
No.
Are
there any training courses available?
Yes. There is a one day course run in Newcastle on a non-profit
making basis (the cost you pay, £310, covers the cost
of the tutor & refreshments). They are held in Newcastle
to ensure the technology is guaranteed. It is recommended
that these courses are attended by pharmaceutical and/or finance
representatives. Please contact the PPA helpdesk (tel: 0191
203 5050, e-mail: help@ppa.nhs.uk)
for details.
Who
should use the system ?
It is primarily aimed at pharmaceutical and finance staff.
What
technology do I need for the electronic analysis package ?
A connection to NHSnet is required. A standard PC with Internet
Explorer Version 4 or above will run Hospital ePACT.net.
What
will happen if I do not wish to join ?
The PPA will contact you with a list of your existing codes
which will need to be replaced by Organisation Codes Service
(OCS) new codes. Your scripts will not be returned from April
2004 dispensed prescriptions. You will continue to receive
the paper reports as now for a limited period. Thereafter
your information will be sent to you electronically in the
same data blocks as now (i.e. by hospital). When you need
to re-order prescription pads, they will be green (FP10NC)
and will be pre-printed with your new codes and associated
addresses. You will receive 14 invoices in the following 12
months as the information is processed quicker
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