Electronic PACT (EPACT)

"The Electronic PACT system is an 'on-line' information service, which provides fast delivery of comparative prescribing information to authorised users throughout the NHS."

Electronic PACT is an analysis package which provides the facility to:

• analyse data at practice, Community Nurse Prescribing Contract, Primary Care Group (PCG), Primary Care Trust (PCT), Health Authority, Regional Office and national levels

• compare the prescribing of all practices against their peers, PCG/Ts, in addition to PCG/T to PCG/T comparisons using the appropriate patient denominators

• perform trend analysis

• examine prescribing habits for financial and performance management purposes

• analyse therapeutic and generic substitution.

This system is used by pharmaceutical advisers, prescribing analysts and prescribing leads at the following organisations:

• Department of Health
  
• Regional Offices
  
• Health Authorities
  
• Primary Care Trusts
  
• Primary Care Groups
  
• PPA Pharmaceutical Advisory Services
  
• Prescribing Support Unit.

The system has a powerful graphing tool, which can display information in bar charts and line graphs. Information can also be displayed in tabular format. Some of the pre-defined queries illustrate the following:

• expected versus actual Net Ingredient Cost (NIC)
  
• expected versus actual number of items
  
• expected versus personally administered NIC
  
• expected versus actual number of personally administered items prescribed
  
• expected versus actual number of personally administered generic items prescribed.

Users request data from the Prescription Pricing Authority, via the 'Request Generator', which is then downloaded to the users PC ready for analysis. Requests can be submitted covering the last 24 prescribing months for one or more prescribing organisations and BNF classifications. A 'tagging' facility is included to permit a user to create specific prescribing requests (e.g. inner city practices or new drugs). Generated requests are maintained using the 'Request Explorer', which allows a user to download, merge or cancel a request.

The 'Analysis Tool' allows the user to interpret the downloaded data for analysis purposes. Drug usage can be measured using all available Defined Daily Doses and Average Daily Quantities. Comparative data can be analysed using a variety of patient denominators such as:

• patient
  
• Prescribing Unit
  
• ASTRO PU - Age Sex Temporary Resident Originated Prescribing Unit
  
• STAR PU - Specific Therapeutic group Age-sex Related Prescribing Units.

Data can be exported into other systems (e.g. Excel) for analysis purposes.

This service will end in April 2003