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Information technology glossary

April 2007

This BMA glossary of information technology terms is intended to aid those new to the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) to understand the terms and acronyms used in BMA and NHS Connecting for Health documents. They are sorted in alphabetical order by the term not the acronym. You can search through this page online by holding down ‘Ctrl’ and ‘f’ on your keyboard and typing in the term you are looking for.

BMA Working Party on NHS IT - BMA WP
A British Medical Association committee, chaired by Mr James Johnson, which represents the view of the BMA in relation to information technology issues in health care. Each branch of practice is represented on the group as well the Medical Ethics Committee, Patient Liaison Group and representatives for each devolved nation. (http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/HubITworkingparty)

Caldicott Guardians
Senior NHS staff who are appointed, at a local level, to protect personal data relating to patients. They are central to the NPfITs access controls as they will monitor alerts with the help of privacy officers. (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/PolicyAndGuidance/InformationPolicy/PatientConfidentialityAndCaldicottGuardians/DH_4100563)

Care Record Development Board - CRDB
The Board, chaired by Harry Cayton, which provides clinical and patient input into the National Programme for IT. It replaced the National Clinical Advisory Board (NCAB) and Public Advisory Board (PAB). (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/crdb)

Care Record Guarantee - CRG
The guarantee produced by the Care Records Development Board (CRDB) which sets out the rules governing information held in the NHS Care Records Service. (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/news/crdb_guarantee)

Choose and Book – CAB/C&B
The electronic referral system by which patients can choose the date, location and time of their hospital appointments. (www.chooseandbook.nhs.uk/)

Clinical Assessment Service - CAS
Generic term used to describe the service which is used to assess a patient before advising on the next course of treatment. Depending on the local process, the Clinical Assessment Service may make assessment by physically seeing the patient or by reviewing the clinical referral details and discussing the options with the patient by telephone.

Clinical Assessment System – CAS
Decision support software system used by NHS Direct operators.

Clinical Assessment Service – CAS
Generic term used to describe the service which is used to assess a patient before advising on the next course of treatment. Depending on the local process, the Clinical Assessment Service may make assessment by physically seeing the patient or by reviewing the clinical referral details and discussing the options with the patient by telephone.

Clusters
England has been geographically divided into five regional areas or clusters for the implementation of the National Programme for IT: North West, North East, Southern, Eastern and London. With the National Local Ownership Programme (NLOP) these are being phased into three new groups; South, London and the North, Midlands and East (NME), reflecting common suppliers, to coordinate and supervise NPfIT at a local level.

Community Health Index – CHI number
The Scottish Community Health Index or CHI number is the unique number for any health communication related to a given patient. The CHI number is used on correspondence including sample bottles and request forms for labs, prescriptions from pharmacy, radiology requests and outpatient and inpatient correspondence.

(NHS) Connecting for Health – CfH
The Department of Health Agency charged with delivering the National Programme for IT, and to maintain the national critical business systems previously provided by the former NHS Information Authority. (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/)

Common User Interface - CUI
A Microsoft Project to develop a common and consistent user interface for clinical applications, together with tailored versions of Microsoft applications for the health service. It is designed to help ensure that critical patient data such as drug information is displayed in a standard way.

Data Controller
The Data Protection Act 1998 outlines that a: “‘data controller’ means a person who (either alone or jointly or in common with other persons) determines the purposes for which and the manner in which any personal data are, or are to be, processed”.

Directory of Services – DoS
A list of the organisations and services that they offer which are available to referrers in the Choose and Book application. http://www.chooseandbook.nhs.uk/staff/dos

Docman
A scanning and electronic document management system which has been made available to GP practices in Scotland following a procurement by NHS Scotland.

Early Adopter – EA
A pilot site selected to pilot a NHS Connecting for Health project. The most widely publicised Early Adopters are those for the NHS Summary Care Record (SCR). The first surgeries covered by the SCR Early Adopters began uploading patient records in March 2007. Surgeries and PCTs are expected to take part in an incremental approach and the initial upload will be restricted to information relating to current medication, known allergies and adverse reactions. It is expected that 6 PCTS will take part in the SCR Early Adopter phase which is to be evaluated by an independent team commissioned by Birmingham University.

Egton Medical Information Systems (EMIS)
One of the main suppliers of computer systems in General Practice. The user group is represented on the Joint GP IT Committee.
(www.emisnug.org.uk/)

Electronic General Practitioners Report – EGPR
A service which will enable the electronic exchange of insurance reports between GPs and insurers. (www.egpr.co.uk/)

Electronic Health Record – EHR
A personal health record in digital format now renamed and redefined as the NHS Care Record Service in England and the Emergency Care Summary in Scotland.

Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System - EPES
A Northern Ireland initiative with Hewlett-Packard (HP) Ltd UK for the development, installation and support of an Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES). The project will involve incorporation of a two dimensional bar code on GP prescriptions which will contain all of the printed information on the prescription. This will then be capable of being read in to pharmacy systems using a bar code reader. The information will then be transferred electronically to the Central Services Agency for checking and payment purposes.

Electronic Prescription Service – EPS
Part of the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions project (see below). A service that will connect prescribers and dispensers across England and enable electronic prescriptions to be generated, transmitted and received. (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/eps)

Electronic Referral Management System - ERMS
A project in Northern Ireland to support the ICATS project announced in January 2006 by the Minister for Health as part of a reform of outpatient services and designed to reduce waiting times for treatment.

Electronic Staff Record – ESR
The Electronic Staff Record (ESR) is the national, integrated Human Resources (HR) and Payroll system which (when fully rolled out in spring 2008) will be used by all NHS organisations throughout England and Wales. The ESR also has a bi-directional interface with NHS Pensions. Personal data for all staff will be transferred to a data warehouse. This will include contact details, salary information, HR records, trainings, qualification and other records. It will also include sensitive information such as disabilities any ethnic origin. Further information is available at: http://www.esrsolution.co.uk/

Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions - ETP
The National Programme for IT (NPfIT) program which allows prescriptions to be electronically sent from GPs to pharmacists and the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA). (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/eps/etpdoc.html)

Emergency Care Summary – ECS
The Scottish service that provides a summary of basic information about patients health. NHS staff can view a patient’s Emergency Care Summary out of hours. They must gain express permission to do so.

General Practice Research Database - GPRD
The world’s largest computerised database of anonymised longitudinal patient records from general practice, containing more than 35 million patient years of data. It is administered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA). (www.gprd.com/)

General Practitioners Report - GPR
A package, jointly developed by the BMA and ABI (Association of British Insurers) which facilitates the generation of information requested by patients’ insurance company from GPs. See also the Eelectronic General Practitioners Report (EGPR) above.

General Practice Administration System for Scotland - GPASS
The national Primary Care system for Scotland and one of the main suppliers of computer systems. The user group is represented on the Joint GP IT Committee.

Good Practice Guidelines for General Practice electronic patient records - GPG
The 2005 guidelines on electronic patient records jointly produced by the GPC and RCGP, sponsored by the DH. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4008657

GP to GP Transfer of Records - GP2GP
GP2GP transfer enables the electronic transfer of patient medical records from one practice to another and is part of the NPfIT programme. The Joint GP IT Committee (JGPITC) monitors each stage of the programme roll-out as appropriate.

Health and Care Number Project
This project has been undertaken together with its sister project, the GP ICT Modernisation Project. This is replacing the old CHI number and numerous hospital numbers with a new unique patient identifier to be used across Northern Ireland.

Healthspace
Previously known as ‘Myhealthspace’, this is a personalised area of the NHS Care Record which can be accessed by patients and used to view/amend records. (http://www.healthspace.nhs.uk)

In Practice Systems – InPS
One of the main suppliers of computer systems in General Practice and supplier of Vision. User group represented on the Joint GP IT Committee.
(www.nvug.org.uk/)

Joint GP IT Committee of the GPC and RCGP - JGPITC
The committee which represents general practice IT and is chaired jointly by Dr Paul Cundy and Dr Paul Robinson. It brings together members of the BMA General Practitioners Committee (GPC), Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the devolved nations and the chairmen of the main GP system supplier user groups.

Legacy
Legacy originally defined systems which were pre-RFA99. It is now often used to define systems which are not supplied by LSPs.

Local Service Providers - LSPs
Local Service Providers in England have been tasked, by NPfIT, to work at a local level to develop new systems to deliver the NHS Care Record Service and deal with local implementation issues.

Minimum Functionality Specification
An agreement in the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract, which ensured that all practices received 100% funding for core IT items.

MSD Informatics' Contract Manager - CM
Merck Sharp & Dohme Informatics (MSDI) Limited's Contract Manager is software which has been developed for the GMS contract for Wales. It enables practices to measure their performance against quality targets.

N3
The new integrated NHS network which will link all NHS sites in England. Delivered by BT, it will provide increased bandwidth and the backbone to NPfIT developments. (www.n3.nhs.uk/)

National Application Service Provider - NASP
A group of three commercial suppliers contracted to deliver the national elements of NPfIT. The companies making up the NASP are BT, Atos Origin and Cable and Wireless. http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/about/howwework/nasps

National Care Records Service - NCRS/NHS CRS
The service that enables the sharing of electronic patient records across the NHS. http://www.nhscarerecords.nhs.uk/nhs

National Library for Health - NLH
A digital library for NHS staff, patients and the public (www.library.nhs.uk/)

National Health Applications and Infrastructure Services (Exeter) - NHAIS
The NHAIS Exeter system is software used in England and Wales for contractor payments and patient registration, linked to the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS). It is now being de-commissioned and replaced with the Spine in England.

NHS Information Standards Board - ISB
An independent body which approves and reviews information standards in the NHS http://www.isb.nhs.uk/

NHS Mail
The NHS email and directory service, endorsed by the BMA for the transfer of clinical information between NHS mail users.

National Programme Board – NPB
The management board for the National Programme for IT (NPfIT).

National Programme for IT - NPfIT
The NHS IT programme encompassing the introduction of the NHS Care Record, electronic transmission of prescriptions, Choose and Book and a network infrastructure to support these developments. The NPfIT is run by Connecting for Health, an agency of the Department of Health.

National Spine - Spine
The collective term used to define the system to store information about a patient's health and care which forms the core of the NHS Care Records Service. The Spine include PSIS, SUS and the PDS.

National Programme for IT Local Ownership Programme - NLOP
A DH programme to reposition and embed accountabilities and responsibilities for delivering NPfIT with the NHS from central management to local Trust. The programme will officially begin the accountability transfer in April 2007 and will be overseen by Gordon Hextall (NHS CfH Chief Operating Officer).

Patient Administration System – PAS
A computerised administration solution that assists with planning, tracking and recording the patient’s attendance throughout their visit to the Trust.

PassPort
Scanning and electronic document management system for primary care.

Pathology Messaging Implementation Programme - PMIP
The national programme for pathology messaging between pathology laboratory systems and GP systems. This project pre-dated NPfIT and CfH are preparing its transition to NPfIT systems and standards.

Patient Information Advisory Group - PIAG
Provide advice on the use of patient information and Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001. (www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/piag/)

Payments Calculation and Analysis System - PCAS
The payments calculation and analysis system for Wales, implemented in March 2005, used to calculate quality points due to each GP practice under the GMS contract.

Person Centred Community Information System - PCIS
A Northern Ireland NHS project to establish a single integrated community health and social care record for all patients and clients in respect of community based services.

Personal Demographics Service – PDS
NHS-wide demographics service which can be used by all NHS systems to identify a Service User and to supply that Service User’s personal details to Authorised Users. This is used for Choose and Book and the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions and will be the sole national source of demographic information on patients for the NHS Care Records Service.
(http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/demographics/pds)

Personal Spine information Service – PSIS
A term used to define the central database of patient information which will form the NHS Care Record Service. The term depicts how patient data will be available centrally and will be accessible by staff across the NHS. The Services include a health record service to store and provide information such as summary or status information, event-based information, and non-event related carer documentation.

Picture Archiving and Communications System - PACS
A system which will enable images, e.g. X-rays and scans, to be stored and sent electronically.

Primary Health Care Specialist Group of the British Computer Society - PHCSG
A group which is concerned with all aspects of IT affecting primary care (www.phcsg.org.uk/)

Public Key Infrastructure - PKI
The set of policies, people, processes, technology and services that make it possible to deploy and manage the use of public-key cryptography and digital certificates on a wide scale. The system enables information to be exchanged in a secure way.

Qresearch
An EMIS database of pseudo-anonymised GP patient data for use in ethical medical research (www.qresearch.org/)

Quality Management and Analysis System - QMAS
The system developed for the GMS contract to allow practices and PCTs to access practice achievement under the new contract (measured against the National Quality and Outcomes Framework targets) and estimate prevalence. (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/delivery/programmes/qmas)

Read codes
A diagnostic coding system which is used in primary care.

Regional Implementation Director - RID
Regional Implementation Directors, appointed for each Local Service Provider, are responsible for ensuring the implementation of NPfIT at a local level. (http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/about/whoswho/rids/)

Role Based Access Control - RBAC
A registration governance system to limit what parts of the NHS Care Record Service can be seen according to job role, area of work and activity. RBAC is modelled on the principles set out in the Care Records Guarantee.

Scottish Care Information Store - SCI Store
A central database of patient information, accessible to clinicians in Scotland, which will form the basis of the NHS Care Record in Scotland.
(http://www.sci.scot.nhs.uk/products/store/SCIStore_Product_Description.htm)

Scottish Clinical Information Management in Primary Care - SCIMP
A project (initiated by the RCGP Scotland) which brings together Information Management and Technology in Primary Care across Scotland. Their work centres on the sharing and co-ordination of developments in electronic data collection by, for example, producing standardised core data sets. Further information is available at: http://www.scimp.scot.nhs.uk/

Scottish Programme for Improving Clinical Effectiveness in Primary Care – SPICE-pc
A Scottish programme which develops and refines standards and benchmarks to improve quality in primary care. (www.ceppc.org/spice/index.shtml)

Sealed Envelope
The term used by NHS CfH to refer to a part of a patients electronic record containing sensitive information that is kept from general view at teh patients request. Once this function is active on the Care Records Service only the authors of the information and the sealing clinician’s workgroup will be able to access the sealed information without patient consent.There will alos be a Clinician Sealed Envelope where sensitive information can be hidden from the patient in the same way.

Sealed and Locked Envelope
This is the term used for patients sensitive information which will be sealed from access by any clinician outside of the sealing clinicians workgroup. Clinicians outside of this workgroup will not be able to see that the information is available or access even with consent.

Secondary Uses Service - SUS
A system designed to provide management and clinical information based on a pseudonymised set of National Care Record data. The Secondary Uses Service (SUS) is the means by which information and analysis will be available for secondary purposes like performance monitoring, service planning, commissioning and clinical audit. It will also provide support to Payment by Results.

Senior Responsible Owner – SRO
The new National Local Ownership Programme (NLOP) structure means that responsibility for meeting key local and national objectives for the NPfIT will devolve to more than 150 Senior Responsible Owners at local and regional health service sites. SROs will be expected to commit to ensuring that deployments meet the NHS contractual commitments to local service providers.

Service Level Agreement - SLA
The agreement between CfH and GP practices that guarantees a level of IT service to practices.
(http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/nhais/products_and_services/slaha_screen/)

Single Assessment Process - SAP
A standard designed to ensure that older people receive appropriate, effective and timely responses to their health care and Social Care needs, and that professional resources are used effectively.

Systemised, Nomenclature of Human and Veterinary Medicine - SNOMED
SNOMED is delivering standardised global terminology so that health care knowledge can be shared worldwide. The NHS Care Record Service will use SNOMED Clinical terms rather than Read Codes. (www.snomed.org/)

Telehealth
TeleHealth is the delivery of health related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Eg. the remote monitoring of vital signs.

Telemedicine
The delivery of medicine at a distance. Eg. the use of video conferencing equipment to allow a clinician to diagnose a patient.