Multimap in Consultation Manager: Showing a Map of the Patient’s Home Address

You can add a tab in Consultation Manager which will provide a link to the Multimap website, showing the address of the patient you currently have open - particularly useful for planning home visits.

To add this feature, if it’s not already present on your setup, follow the following steps:

1. Right click on any of the exisiting tabs in Consultation Manager
2. Select “Organise Tabs”
3. Click “Add”
4. Select “Patient Links Browser” and click OK
5. Click OK twice
6. Right click on the new tab which has appeared (called “Links”) and choose “View Options”
7. From the drop-down list, select “Patient Map” and click “Select Homepage”
8. Click OK, then Yes

The tab will now, when clicked on, default to a map centered on the patient’s home address.

Amending the Guideline Index

If you’ve downloaded extra guidelines from the INPS website, you might want to place them on your Local Guideline Index to make them easier for everyone in the practice to find.

Here’s how to do this:

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Records 9

Records 9 states “For repeat medicines, an indicator for the drug can be identified in the records”. In the DES Reports spreadsheet released in DLM 237 INPS supplied a tool to help you determine how close you are to reaching your target. Part of this spreadsheet determines how many therapy items are linked to a problem and how many are not linked to a problem.

We have received a number of queries from practices stating that problem linkage is not the method they use. The Records 9 rule doesn’t state a particular method for recording this information - only that you have to be able to show that it’s been done. A few other methods are listed below…

• Therapy and reason for therapy recorded within the same consultation.
  
• Therapy and reason recorded on the same day.
  
• Freetext information recorded in the dosage box of the therapy item.
  
• Any other way you can think of as long as all staff are aware.
   

All these methods and problem linkage can be valid as long as you can adequately show there is a reason of some kind. Unfortunately, these other methods can be too bespoke to be able to do one search in Vision. For example, in freetext you could write “For backache” or “Asthma”, etc. As there are endless possibilities available it makes a generic search very hard. We can’t just check on there being a freetext entry at all as it might just contain the dosage information and nothing else.

In conclusion whilst we have provided a tool where possible to search for your figures, please do not feel that you are being forced to record the information this way. Any other method can be proved on a random sample of patients during your QoF Assement. If you are unsure then speak to your PCT QoF facilitator and they should be able to point you in the right direction.

Heart Failure (HT03) Help File

There is an error is the Help File relating to HF03 for the new (v10) audits. 

• In HF01 diagnosis is first ever.
• In HF02 there is an exception so diagnosis has to be after 01/04/2006.
• For HF03 the help file states diagnosis is since 01/04/2006, but this is incorrect - it should state ”first diagnosis ever”.

Please note that this error only affects the textual content of the Help File and the audit itself is correct.

Putting a Backup Job on Hold

A timely reminder with the Christmas holidays fast approaching:

On occasions, you may not wish the backup to run. For example, if the surgery is closed over a Bank Holiday weekend, no one may be present on Monday to insert a tape for Monday evening’s backup.

NOTE: This only needs to be done if your backup is configured to eject the tape once the job has completed. If the backup tape remains in the drive WITHOUT BEING EJECTED once the job has completed, then Monday’s backup will run, overwriting the data on the tape which was used for the previous backup.

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QMAS version 10 in Scotland: Update #2

NHS National Services Scotland report that Scottish QMAS update Version 10 was successfully released into the live system last week. 

Practice reports that were held back on December 1st 2007 are now being released into QMAS Scotland. They will be monitoring connectivity and communicating with clinical system suppliers should there be any problems.

Notification of Choose and Book Release 03.06.00 Implementation

We have received notification of the release of the latest implemetation of Choose and Book.

Background:
 
NHS Connecting for Health completed essential planned maintenance to the Choose and Book system on Saturday, 1st December 2007. This work was the next step in a programme of system improvements to implement additional functionality and resolve issues identified by current live sites.

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