Combine: See primary and secondary care spend and volume data in one place
Posted in Announcement, Combine, Integrated Care, News
As NHS primary and secondary care services come together under recently introduced integrated care systems (ICS) new opportunities are being created to maximise savings on medicines and adopt best prescribing practices.
Sharing data across integrated care systems will be an essential tool in achieving these aims. A new computer software package, Rx-info’s Combine makes this possible for the first time.
The Combine medicines data analysis tool uses Rx-info expertise in data standardisation and medicines data software so that all ICS prescribing practice is reportable and can be analysed and understood.
Data can be reported all the way to presentation level and shows the actual price paid (rather than indicative prices).
The data can answer all key ICS medicines metrics such as:
- New technology uptake
- Biosimilar uptake impacts
- Antimicrobial stewardship markers
This means that the spend and prescribing practices covering both primary and secondary care can be monitored and compared, demonstrating where savings can be made and improved practices adopted, for the benefit of patients.
It will also enable health care practitioners to benchmark prescribing practices and share best practice.
ICSs have different pharmacy system types but Combine is able to “translate” this data to get consistent, common outputs. It also takes into consideration the fact certain secondary care prescriptions have different VAT status.
Software already developed by Rx-info, Define and Refine, have helped hospital pharmacies reduce the prescribing of unnecessary antibiotic medicines, cutting the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Combine extends this potential across the whole of an ICS.
NHS drugs spend accounts for more than £20bn of the health service budget, split almost evenly between primary care at £10.1bn and hospitals at £10.3bn in FY23/24. Through the creation of ICS and the use of Combine it will be possible to better manage these costs while improving patient outcomes.
The release of the software is scheduled for April 2025. If you are an ICS representative interested to see the Combine beta system, please add your details to join one of the January demonstrations.