Electronic Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (ePACT.net)

"A service which makes prescription data immediately accessible using a combination of Internet technology and the NHS Prescribing Database held by the Prescription Pricing Authority."

This is a NHS.Net delivered service accessed via the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) Website address (www.ppa.nhs.uk). It allows users real time on-line access to the three years prescribing data held on the NHS Prescribing Database.

To access the system, users require a PC with Internet Explorer 4.72 (or above) and connection to the NHS.Net.

Data can be selected according to:

• reporting period (i.e. month, quarter, year)
  
• prescribing organisation (e.g. practice, PCT)
  
• BNF classification (chapter to presentation level).

The data available includes:

• Budgets and expenditure forecasts
  
• Costs and volumes of prescribing
  
• Prescribing by locums, trainees and nurses
  
• Patient list sizes
  
• Low Income Scheme Index scores for practices

A 'tagging' facility for specific requests is available. The selection of data can be grouped by specific practices (e.g. rural, dispensing, locality) or specific BNF categories (e.g. practice formulary, specialist drugs). BNF tags can be shared between users (e.g. to assist in the monitoring of formularies within a PCT). This data can also be displayed in tabular and graphical format.

Query results can be saved to disk or exported to other PC applications. Users can defer the processing of large queries and view the results when convenient.

This system is available to:

• Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)
  
• Hospital Trusts
  
• Strategic Health Authorities (StHAs)
  
• National Users including:
  
  • DH
    
  • NICE
    
  • NPC
    
  • PSU
    
  • Statistics

Information is available at a variety of levels:

• Practice, Community Nurse & PCT for PCTs
  
• PCT and StHA for StHAs and National users
  
• Speciality and Trust for Hospital Trusts

Practice prescribing can be analysed comparatively using a variety of patient denominators such as:

• Patient
  
• Prescribing Unit (PU)
  
• ASTRO PU - Age, Sex and Temporary Resident Originated Prescribing Unit
  
• STAR PU - Specific Therapeutic group Age-sex Related Prescribing Units
  
• Nurse Prescribing Formulary PU.

Release 9.0 of the service, which is scheduled for release in December 2002, will enable analysis of prescribing using Statistical Volume Measures (Average Daily Quantities and Defined Daily Doses). It will also provide information on prescribing from the Extended Nurse Prescribing Formulary.