A. ePACT.net needs port 1998 open on the firewall. This port should be open both ways and allow TCP packets through. Ports 20 and 21 are no longer used. Some firewalls can have this port open to a specific IP address. If this is the case then you must have the port open to IP address 194.101.1.34.

Q. Which browser should I use to run ePACT.net?

A. ePACT.net currently only works with Internet Explorer 4.72 or above, including IE 5.0. ePACT.net does not support Netscape.

Q. Do I need to set up my browser for printing my snapshot?

A. No. Since the release of version 3.0 of ePACT.net it has not been necessary to set trusted site status to allow the snapshot facility to work.

Q.What version of the British National Formulary does ePACT.net use?

A. ePACT.net uses whichever version of the BNF is effective in the latest month of data loaded. For instance, if the latest month of ePACT.net data was December 1999 the BNF version used would be version 36. If the latest month was January 2000 then the BNF version would be version 38.

Q.Why does a drug that was in one chapter of the BNF last month now appear in a different chapter?

A. ePACT.net uses the latest BNF version and applies it retrospectively. If a drug has been reclassified in the BNF then it will move around in the structure. This is done to prevent the same drug appearing in more than one area of the BNF over time.

Q.Why is forecast out turn only available for the total BNF and not for individual drugs?

A. Forecast out turn is a field calculated based on a profile of average spend per month of the financial year. This profile only holds true at the total BNF level. Individual drugs or even chapters would show a different profile of spend e.g. Vaccine expenditure would be higher in the Autumn and Winter months.

Q.Why do some queries complete faster than their estimated time and some take longer?

A.The estimated processing time for a query is just that, an estimate. The actual time is influenced by hundreds of factors that change from moment to moment. These include the number of users, the amount of network traffic on the NHSNet, the network traffic at your local site, how many routers and other machines the data has to pass though, etc.

Q.How many tags can I have?

A: In addition to the default and standard tags provided by the PPA you can currently store up to 25 tags per user id. The limit is set to reduce the amount of space these take up on the server and to reduce the time taken to build up user information when you log on.

Q.Is ePACT.net a security risk?

A: Allowing any external computer to access your system can be perceived as a security risk. However opening port 1998 just to the PPA's IP address of 194.101.1.34 is no more of a risk than having your HTTP port 80 open to everyone. ePACT.net is written in Java and the system runs as an applet inside the security 'sandbox' of your browser. This means ePACT.net CANNOT read or write to or from any part of your computer system. This was designed to reduce the security risks to your systems.

Q.Is there any training for ePACT.net?

A.Currently the only training available is via the computer based tutorial that can be downloaded from the Systems page. The PPA are currently discussing the provision of on-site training for ePACT.net with the NHS executive.

Q.Why is ePACT.net not written to use dynamic HTML, Active server pages and/or JavaScript instead of Java?

A. If you use ePACT.net regularly you will appreciate that it is fundamentally a complex application running across a network (the NHSNet). To deliver the facilities the system gives you using HTML and JavaScript would involve much greater development and support costs and for some facilities would be almost impossible. ePACT.net was designed to deliver powerful functionality in the most practical and versatile manner possible without exorbitant cost to the NHS- Java was deemed to be the best choice available.

Q.What are PUs?

A. PUs or Prescribing Units are a measurement of the size of a practice based upon its list size. PUs are used when calculating fields such as the estimated net ingredient cost (NIC) based on the cost across your Primary Care Organisation for a similar sized practice.

Some PUS have weightings applied to allow for a different profile of patient usage across different therapeutic groups (STAR PUs) or to allow for volume or cost comparisons ( e.g Cost or Item ASTRO PUs).

For more information see the 'Prescribing Measures and their Application' in the Toolkit Application help pages on this web site. Alternatively refer to 'Patient Information' and 'Prescribing Comparisons' in the ePACT.net Tutorial or the PSU web site (www.psu.co.uk).

Q. Why does the forecast out turn in ePACT.net not change for different months of data?

A.The forecast out turn is calculated based on the current actual cost spend year-to-date regardless of the period selected. The period selection is only used to determine which financial year the user is interested in. This year-to-date figure obviously only changes when the next months data is loaded and then only for the current financial year.

Q. I find it difficult to read the full BNF descriptions in the data selector when I am at drug or presentation level. Can I increase the size of the window?

A. The data selector can be set as full window by selecting:

Component Data Selector Full Window

Q. How can I make a data selector selection that is not sequential?

A. Follow these instructions:

Q. How can I change the components of the BNF tag I have created?

A. Follow these instructions: Click the tag from the data selector and Add the selections to the data selector. The BNF data selector will show the default BNF tag and the tag you have added. Expand your tag to show the BNF components . Scroll up the data selector and expand the BNF tag. Select tag components by clicking on them whilst holding down the Ctrl key. Release the Ctrl key. Click on the tagging button. Select the tag name you wish to change. Select Save to overwrite the existing tag as well

Q.Can I print out the ePACT.net tutorial so that I can refer to it when I am using the system?

A. You cannot print the whole tutorial, as it is a multimedia application comprising of hundreds if screens linked together. You can refer to techniques in the tutorial by having both the ePACT.net tutorial and the live ePACT.net system open at the same time. To move between the two applications simply press Alt and Tab keys at the same time.

Q.When I select a graph or report template they often take a long time to process and return information that I did not want. How can I tell what fields are in these templates without processing the data?

A. Once you have selected the Graph Expert or the Report Expert, click on the properties bar before you select the template.

The report or graph fields and data accumulation levels are displayed and can be modified before clicking the OK button to process the data.

Q. How can I save my graphs and reports as I work ?

A. Once your graph or report is processed click on the Snapshot button.

Q. When I open a saved ePACT.net file in a spreadsheet I cannot perform calculations on the data.

A. If the file is copied and pasted onto itself as values,  the data can be manipulated.