EPS in Practice Manpreet Pujara GP National Clinical Lead & Clinical Director EPS
Apr 01, 2015
EPS in Practice
Manpreet PujaraGP National Clinical Lead &
Clinical Director EPS
The size of the problem
The size of the problem
• 926.7 million prescription items in 2010 an increase of 4.6% (40.7 million items) on 2009 and 67.9% on 20001
1.5 billion by 2020
• 2.5 million per day
• 73 per day/GP
• 293 per week/GP
1Prescriptions Dispensed in the Community: England Statistics for 2000-2010
Information Centre
Repeat prescribing workload
Not all items considered at once
High workload forfront desk
High GP workload
Increased pressure to
meet QOF targets
High number ofrepeat scripts
Problem/Symptom
Electronic signatures
Electronic repeatdispensingElectronic
cancellation
Nomination
Electronic submission of reimbursement endorsements
Why upgrade - EPS functionality
What’s in it for me & my practice?
• Makes me efficient!
• Less printing, less noise & more time to talk!
• More efficient prescribing/signing
• Electronic repeat dispensing
• Less wastage
• Write a message for patient and/or pharmacist
• Make more use of telephone consultations
• Electronic cancellation means more control of medication regime
What’s in it for me & my practice?
• No need to sort and file prescriptions
• Less traffic at the main desk
• Fewer phone calls from patients asking for meds
• Cannot lose the prescription – you know where it is
• No hanging around outside consulting rooms for a signature/lost prescription
• No sticky notes!
• Cost saving, printing, phone calls, less wasted time
• Better clinical safety
So what do I need to do?
To maximise the benefits of using EPS you must review and change your business processes
Routine repeat request – Practice 1
1. Reception issues one of repeat regime e.g. 3 of 6
2. Paper FP10 printed
3. FP10’s divided between GPs
4. FP10s put into GP’s pigeon holes
5. GPs collect from pigeon holes
6. GPs checks and signs after surgery
7. GP takes signed FP10s back to reception
Routine repeat request – Practice 2
Routine repeat request with EMIS Web & EPS Release 2
So what do I need to do?
Review your current repeat request process
•Prescription duration 28 or 56 days
•Single review date or number of issues?
•Are review dates set as a default 6 or 12 months or dependent on clinical review?
•Synchronising issues/drugs
•Do you use compliance figures or date of last issue?
•Do you post date prescriptions?
So what do I need to do?( Review your current repeat request process)
• Do you use paper repeat dispensing?
• Who signs the prescriptions & when?
• Decide if you will print token for co-located pharmacies
• Training
• Engage – with patients
• Communicate with your local pharmacists – nominations are the key to a successful deployment
Practice decisions - streamlining• Choosing the GP for EPS signing e.g. buddy
system when one on holiday
• GPs signing prescriptions between patients
• Ensuring all outstanding prescriptions are signed by duty doctor at the end of the day
• GPs consider amending items in patient record as requests come in
• Consideration of different ways of notifying GP of immediate acute/repeat request for action
• Benefits of using instant messaging
What’s EPS like in Web?
• Safety warnings
• Compliance figures
• Nomination
• Cannot always change urgency on the fly
• Cannot write a reason when rejecting a prescription – so no one knows why?
• Notes to patient/Pharmacy not recorded/visible in the electronic record
Compliance figures
Adding a message for patient or pharmacist
Nomination
Cancel an item in task screen
EPS Release 2 statistics
291
6,331
20
613,763
3,298,925
patient nominations
items dispensed and claimed
GP practices live
pharmacies live
dispensing appliance contractors live
Supplier status Dispensing systems 6 dispensing systems have achieved FRA (full roll out approval )2 dispensing systems yet to achieve FRA
Prescribing systems 4 prescribing systems have achieved FRA 1 prescribing system yet to achieve FRA
All Isle of Wight GP and dispensing sites live
All dispensers in Bexley live
cfh.nhs.uk/epsstats
Process for EPS Authorisation Directions restart
33 PCTs gain SoS Directions
Second closing date for applications:
21 September 2012
www.cfh.nhs.uk/eps/sos
Keep in contact……and sign up for the EPS bulletin!
EPS R2 Benefits Questionnaire
www.cfh.nhs.uk/eps/feedback