The risks and considerations both PCNs and LIVI should consider if using an EMIS Web GP Practice as a Hub.
EMIS Web for GP Practices is designed to align with the General Medical Services (GMS) contract. When a new patient is registered in a standard GP practice environment, they are classified as a 'Regular' patient. In the EMIS system, a 'Regular' patient is equivalent to a GMS patient. A GMS patient is someone who is enrolled with a general practitioner (GP) and receives General Medical Services (GMS) as part of the UK's National Health Service. The GMS contract represents the standard agreement for GPs in England, mandating that practices deliver specific essential services to their patient population. Once a patient is designated as a Regular patient, their record will be transferred from their previous GP practice through GP Links, utilising the GP2GP system for seamless data transfer.
The definition of a Regular Patient for EMIS is: A patient who lives within the boundary of your Local ICB and intends to be registered at your organisation for the foreseeable future.
All other default registration types in EMIS are not impacted by GP Links - this could be Private, Temporary, Emergency or Walk-In. More information about EMIS Patient Registration Types can be found here.
If the PCN agree to use a GP Practice as a Hub for a PCN contract then it is essential any patient registered at another GP Practice within the PCN are not registered as a Regular patient. The most sensible approach is to register the patient as a Temporary Short stay patient type.
The definition of a Temporary Short term Patient for EMIS is: A patient who is only staying temporarily in the area covered by your Local ICB.
Short Stay: the patient is staying in the area for fewer than 15 days. A short stay registration expires after 15 days.
Risks/Considerations
- Risk a patient will be registered as a 'Regular' Patient - parient will be deducated from current GP Practice
- Practice List size will be impacted - all patients will be new registrations - this will impact the national patient records database for that GP Practice
- Electronic Prescriptions will use the GP Practice Prescribing Cost Centre code
- Information Governance - all staff at the GP practice are likely to be able to access these patients records but perhaps do not have the legitimate relationship with that patient