Before the development of PCN data analytical dashboards, manual reports had to be generated within each of the seven practice EMIS Web systems, either by practice staff or PCN staff given authorised access into those systems to generate the reports.

These individual reports then had to be collated manually to get any meaningful data at PCN level, which created a large bureaucratic burden and made it more difficult for the PCN to understand levels of demand, track the utilisation of services, maintain oversight of PCN staff workload and ensure additional PCN services were being allocated to practices on a “fair share” basis.

However, by carefully configuring the digital systems and processes used by the hub team and its member practices, the PCN has now been able to harvest more insightful data and intelligence and streamline the way it meets mandatory reporting requirements.

Its data and reporting solution features the following:

• EMIS’s APEX analytics tool generates live dashboards charting demand, capacity, and activity across the PCN – helping the leadership team to make data-driven decisions about how to manage their resources most effectively.

• The APEX Contract Manager function helps contract managers in member practices to generate claims and invoices for locally-commissioned services more efficiently through automated processes, releasing hours of administrative time.

• The APEX Contract Manager tool is also being used by the PCN to monitor their Impact and Investment Fund (IIF) progress, with full indicator breakdowns and a highly visual practice benchmarking.

• EMIS Enterprise, Search and Reports tool is used to create patient level worklists, allowing a single search to be run across all constituent practices.

• Ardens Manager tool is used to manage performance against IIF targets.

• The project team also worked with Edenbridge Apex and NHS England to create a General Practice Appointment Data dashboard allowing for “once for all reporting” for the PCN, again simplifying and streamlining reporting requirements for practices.

Screenshot 1: Different PCN-level services are configured into Edenbridge Apex PCN dashboard. 

Screenshot 2: An overview of appointment activity for the chosen service (in this case the First Contact Physiotherapy service).

Screenshot 3: An overview of appointment activity for the chosen service (in this case Respiratory Hub Appointments). This capacity was made available through seasonal funding from the ICB and the reporting capability of the PCN hub has allowed service delivery to be proactively monitored from the outset to ensure best utilisation rates.  The PCN can also quickly assess delivery during Enhanced Access hours.

Screenshot 4: Consolidated PCN-level views are now available to support proactive population health management

Screenshot 5: Various data extracts from the PCN hub help keep track on utilisation and ensure “fair share” principles are being applied. In particular, the central graphs show face-to-face and practice-booked hub activity and the data adjusted to list size. This was a key requirement to ensure that practices and their patient population have fair share access to PCN-level services.

“Having real-time data highlighting our IIF indicators and progress has enabled our PCN to work collaboratively with practices to ensure work is distributed equitably and targets are met.” 

Andy Gove, Digital Transformation Manager, Folkestone, Hythe and Rural PCN 

Next section: The patient’s perspective