PHCSG urges ‘extreme caution’ on QoF data use
White paper proposals to use Quality and Outcomes Framework data to make commissioning decisions should only be followed with extreme caution, the Primary Health Care Specialist Group (PHCSG) of the British Computer Society has warned. The PHCSG says the QoF database held on the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS) has been collected purely for […]
News
New deal on system choice for GPs
GPs will be able to choose from a wider range of IT system suppliers under the terms of a new deal outlined by Connecting for Health. The agreement, which is subject to Treasury approval, means eligible systems will be funded centrally by the Department of Health, removing the financial pressure on primary care trusts. Existing […]
News
Read codes and rules for revised QOF issued
Read codes and business rules for the revised Quality and Outcomes Framework have been published. The final version of the codes and rules was approved last week and cover all the changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) from April. The framework was amended as part of the renegotiated nGMS contract with 168 points redistributed, mostly focusing on […]
News
Mixed feelings from GPs in new survey on NPfIT
A new survey of GPs shows a widespread dislike of Choose and Book, but optimism that the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) will bring improvements in clinical care in the longer term. There were concerns, too, about patient privacy with 71% of GP respondents saying that the NHS Care Records Service would mean the confidentiality […]
News
New QMAS software will focus on excluded patients
Changes to the payments software for the Quality and Outcomes Framework mean practices and primary care trusts will be able to check exception reporting details on the system from this autumn. Connecting for Health has announced changes to the functionality of the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS) including the addition of exception reporting information. […]
News
Conference call
Were GPs right to vote against electronically sharing patient information at this month’s BMA local medical committees’ conference?
Feature
Electronic record content still up for discussion
The question of what information will go on a local record and what will go on a national summary record is still open for discussion, a medical conference in London heard last week. The conference “Challenges for Doctors in the Digital World” was held the day after the launch of the new Care Record Guarantee […]
News
GPs ‘over-perform’ on QoF by £200m
Payments to GPs under the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) of the new GMS contract look certain to massively exceed the original sums budgeted by the Department of Health. Dr Ian Trimble, a Nottingham GP, advisor to the Department of Health and one of the architects of QoF performance management framework for general practice, said […]
News
FOI challenge on QoF data
The owner of an online information service is challenging a decision to hold back publication of Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) data until August. Gordon Blackwell, owner of the National Health Intelligence Service told EHI Primary Care: “I don’t think they have any right to deny me access to that information. Section 22 of the […]
News
QoF results publication likely in next two months
Quality and Outcomes Framework results for every practice in England and Scotland are likely to be published on government websites within the next two months, according to the organisations responsible for coordinating the data. An official from the Health and Social Care Information Centre in England, the body that will hold all Quality and Outcomes […]
News