Home » Health Direction Limited - turning NHS data into incisive knowledge

Health Direction Limited - turning NHS data into incisive knowledge

Health Direction is totally independent and was established in 1996. Health Direction have a team of 24 people including information analysts, IT experts and NHS consultants. Health Direction are the market leading provider of NHS business intelligence.

Health Direction collects and interprets UK wide healthcare information for the following types of organisation: practice, cluster, primary care, secondary care and private providers. This up to the minute highly detailed information is used by healthcare sales and marketing professionals and NHS health professionals. We are the recognised experts on the local NHS environment, how local organisations are organised and operate, their inter relationships and the way in which they respond to national and local initiatives in an effort to provide the best healthcare for their local population. We translate this expertise into the bespoke solutions our customers need and currently supply over thirty pharmaceutical companies (including seven of the top ten) and three of the largest pharmacy companies. We have wide and increasing use in the NHS.

We have three core skills that set us apart from the competition:

Data Collection

A highly trained, knowledgeable team of data collectors - to be effective in collecting information from NHS organisations you need to understand the context of what you are asking for - All our collection staff have been with us a number of years and are steeped in understanding the local nhs environment of each organisation.

Data Structuring

1300 documents are collected each month ranging from board minutes to practice leaflets. They are written to no standard format or agreed glossary. It is not possible to only use a search engine to produce accurate and comprehensive results (we should know - we keep trying to find one!!). 10 editors convert this raw information from the NHS, organising it using our unique categorisation system, and then displaying the results in products that allow users to focus on key issues, effectively targeting and engaging with NHS customers.

Database Design

Our designers have one overriding aim - make our databases a pleasure to use and interrogate for our customers. The number of testaments we have received show that we are succeeding.

Health Direction - recent NHS News

National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board News - April 2007
National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board News - March 2007
National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board News - February 2007
National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board News - January 2007

More NHS News

Health Direction - recent NHS articles

Health Direction - enhancements
(Published April 2007)

Health Direction's April 2007 newsletter brings Health Direction clients up to date with some of the enhancements and additions that Health Direction have made to their master database, which are then available to their clients in the formats that they require. As usual, Health Direction are well ahead with what’s important right now in the NHS as well as collecting information around emerging trends and strategies for the future.

NHS Environment & engaging with the NHS in 2007
(Published March 2007)

In England probably the key news is around money, practice based commissioning and the pressure on medicines management and the pharmaceutical industry, and perhaps these are all interrelated. The financial picture is confused, on one hand the NHS is heading for a massive overspend in a number of local health economies, but on the other, the centre now predicts a small surplus for the NHS as a whole. This can be accounted for by recognising that reserves, top slices and other accounting “tricks” will be used to balance the books. Whilst the Secretary of State seems to indicate that growth after 2007/8 will be in excess of 3% (Patricia Hewitt was taking part in a question and answer session on the 10 Downing Street website) this is not as good as it looks as NHS inflation is running at around 3.9% currently – leaving a significant deficit at this level of funding.

Practice Based Commissioning Cluster Sophistication Index
(Published February 2007)

The Practice Based Commissioning Cluster Sophistication Index, designed and scored by Health Direction Consultants is an exciting new development which complements the fully revised, industry standard PCO Sophistication Index. Currently a key change in the NHS is the move to Practice Based Commissioning of services. This is generally happening by groups or clusters of practices joining together to start the commissioning process and redesign services. A key first focus is the stopping of unplanned/emergency admissions to hospitals which cost the NHS an enormous amount of money. Pharmaceutical companies need to concentrate on the PBC Clusters that are at the forefront of service redevelopment. Health Direction have designed their PBC Generic Sophistication Index to pinpoint these movers and shakers.

Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) Cluster Update
(Published January 2007)

Health Direction have identified 1105 PBC Clusters in England. This consists of 618 Clusters (containing more than one practice), 463 Individual Commissioning Practices and 24 PCO Commissioning Clusters. There are currently 68 Clusters still finalising their membership. This is a very fluid situation and requires constant dialogue with PCTs, PBC Clusters and Practices. Health Direction, in partnership with the NHS Alliance, is at the forefront of mapping these changes, so crucial to understanding how commissioning is developing in the England NHS.

Practice Based Commissioning- where are we now?
(Published October 2006)

The Department of Health have taken the unusual step of publishing information it collects from Strategic Health Authorities to monitor the progress made in implementing policy on practice based commissioning. This makes interesting reading, but sometimes seems a little divorced from the real world. What does it tell us?

PBC Clusters are already reorganising!
(Published September 2006)

The latest PBC summary information produced for this newsletter by Cathy Alexander, our Director of NHS Information shows that around 10% of clusters have reorganised since May! Please be very careful about buying any practice based commissioning information from alternative suppliers. A large pharmaceutical company recently bought PBC information from another supplier but have just had to purchase our information as they found the alternatively sourced data unusable when looked at carefully due to inaccuracies and ommissions.

Switched on and ready to go – New payments, new computers?
(Published July 2006)

Is your GP worth £250,000? was the question posed by the Guardian on 19 April following widespread press coverage over the new contract and the rewards that the Quality & Outcomes Framework can bring. Who are these high fliers? Does it matter?

NHS reorganisation is changing the way Diabetes is managed
(Published July 2006)

Since the launch of the Diabetes NSF in December 2001 and the Delivery Strategy published in November 2002 there has been real progress in the earlier identification of those with diabetes and at risk of diabetes and the implementation of management plans that include achieving much tighter glycaemic control on type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) - Opportunities for marketers and sales teams
(Published May 2006)

NHS policy is changing the way pharmaceutical companies need to think about GPs and Practices. One indicator of this change is that the nGMS contract is with the practice rather than with each GP. PBC should see the practice or PBC locality group taking the lead in influencing prescribing by its GPs. After all improving the consistency and quality of care has always been at the front of every GPs mind, however they now have a strong incentive to do that at the lowest cost to the practice. Peer pressure from the PBC group may well come to bear on any GPs who are not seen to be utilising the most cost effective treatment option.

Changes to NHS Structure – England and Scotland
(Published April 2006)

The first announcement from the consultations on NHS reorganisation has been made regarding the configuration of England's Strategic Health Authorities. The number of SHAs will be reduced from 28 to 10 from July 1st, subject to parliamentary approval. Information regarding the planned reorganisation of PCTs is not yet available, but will be announced soon.

Understanding Practice Based Commissioning
(Published March 2006)

Pharmaceutical companies need to understanding Practice Based Commissioning to ensure sales performance in 2006/7, recommends Cathy Alexander, Director of NHS Information at Health Direction. Looking at how practice based commissioning is being implemented across England, understanding the variations is crucial to maximising sales performance in 2006/07.

Summary and comment on Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper
(Published February 2006)

For over two decades, Governments have subscribed to a “Primary Care Led NHS” – there now seems real potential that this may become a reality. International research (WHO and Starfield amongst others) demonstrates that strong primary care produces at least as good outcomes at least cost.

Formularies not always the key
(Published 15 December 2005)

Marketers need to understand the complexities of prescribing to make an impact. Nearly one third of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in the UK do not have a drug formulary, according to new research from NHS information specialists, Health Direction.

Pharmaceutical companies need to focus on prescribing structures
(Published 14 December 05)

New research from Health Direction, the NHS business intelligence specialists, has prompted a warning to pharmaceutical companies that prescribing decision-making within the NHS may be even more complex than many currently believe. Health Direction’s market-leading ‘Sophistication Index’, which uses interrupted live NHS data to measure the extent to which PCOs have progressed across a broad range of areas, today reveals that 30% of PCTs do not have a formulary, while the ratio of generics to branded drugs prescribed by different PCTs also varies widely.

The New Providers
(Published December 2005)

The decision of the then Conservative Government in the early 1990s to separate commissioning from service provision met with widespread opposition at the time, from those who felt it was dismantling the NHS, to those who wanted to see a much more radical free market in healthcare in the UK. Who would have thought then, that fifteen or more years on, it would be the Labour Party in power that would redefine the NHS and open up provision in such a way that even the most right wing Tory of the last generation to taste power might have hesitated at?

Pharmacy contract take up is strong
(Published 13 December 05)

New research from Health Direction, the NHS business intelligence specialists, has revealed that PCOs have made significant inroads in delivering on the new Pharmacy Contract. However, 14% of PCOs are still not ready to implement the Contract. The roll-out of national pharmacy pilots is also relatively immature, with just 14% of PCOs involved in two or more national pharmacy pilots.

More NHS Articles

Commissioning a Patient Led NHS
(Published October 2005)

Another NHS Reorganisation was launched by the publication of the Departmental guidance issued on 28 July 2005 entitled ?Commissioning a Patient Led NHS?. The expected reconfiguration of Primary Care Trusts is now under way, with proposals to be submitted by Strategic Health Authorities by 15 October, but there were also a few surprises in the notably the separation of commissioning and providing at PCT level (see below). But what are we to make of this, and what are the implications for the pharmaceutical industry?

Understanding and mapping NHS Networks - the solution to PCO access problems?
(Published April 05)

Primary Care Groups have been in existence since 1999 and have gradually evolved into the Primary Care Trusts (PCT) that we know today. During this time, influence in terms of budget and decision-making has been slowly devolved from the old Health Authorities so that PCTs now have to commission, plan and develop services in conjunction with their local acute and mental health trusts. In addition, as part of a general move towards getting more treatment moved from the acute sector into the primary sector, more PCOs are providing their own services in a number of areas.

Targeting and Marketing to Community Pharmacists – a new opportunity for the pharmaceutical industry
(Published March 05)

Everyone knows that community pharmacists are the newest additions to the NHS family! The new pharmacy contract, which will go live from April 2005, provides the legal framework to allow the skills, experience and expertise of pharmacists and their staff to be fully utilised in a modern NHS. It makes clear the role of community pharmacy and how it will contribute to the achievement of targets for the health sector on improving access and choice and helping people with long-term conditions. Additionally, the new pharmacy contract will allow PCTs to develop community pharmacy services that can support GP practices in fulfilling the new GMS contract.

Health Direction - monthly NHS & PCT News

Analysis of the previous months NHS / PCT national and local news is provided by Health Direction. These reports can also be sent to you by email via a free subscription to the AllAboutMedicalSales weekly e-bulletin. Click here to get NHS national and local news sent to you every month.

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