Static outliers for Tasc PCN

There is substantial variation in prescribing behaviours, across various different areas of medicine. Some variation can be explained by demographic changes, or local policies or guidelines, but much of the remaining variation is less easy to explain. At OpenPrescribing we are piloting a number of data-driven approaches to identify unusual prescribing and collect feedback on this prescribing to inform development of new tools to support prescribers and organisations to audit and review prescribing.

This report has been developed to automatically identify prescribing patterns at a chemical level which are furthest away from “typical prescribing” and can be classified as an “outlier”. We calculate the number of prescriptions for each chemical in the BNF coding system using the BNF subparagraph as a denominator, for prescriptions dispensed between April 2021 and August 2021. We then calculate the mean and standard deviation for each numerator and denominator pair across all practices/CCGs/PCNs/STPs. From this we can calculate the “z-score”, which is a measure of how many standard deviations a given practice/CCG/PCN/STP is from the population mean. We then rank your “z-scores” to find the top 5 results where prescribing is an outlier for prescribing higher than its peers and those where it is an outlier for prescribing lower than its peers.

It is important to remember that this information was generated automatically and it is therefore likely that some of the behaviour is warranted. This report seeks only to collect information about where this variation may be warranted and where it might not. Our full analytical method code is openly available on GitHub here.

The DataLab is keen to hear your feedback on the results. You can do this by completing the following survey or emailing us at ebmdatalab@phc.ox.ac.uk. Please DO NOT INCLUDE IDENTIFIABLE PATIENT information in your feedback. All feedback is helpful, you can send short or detailed feedback.

Prescribing where Tasc PCN is higher than most

BNF Chemical Chemical Items BNF Subparagraph Subparagraph Items Ratio Mean std Z_Score Plots
Isophane insulin 787 Intermediate and long-acting insulins 1206 0.65 0.13 0.09 5.56
Bupivacaine hydrochloride 76 Local anaesthetics 393 0.19 0.01 0.04 5.15
Flunarizine dihydrochloride 6 Drugs used in nausea and vertigo 1418 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.64
Flumetasone pivalate 21 Otitis externa 305 0.07 0.01 0.01 4.44
Levomepromazine hydrochloride 114 Antipsychotic drugs 1895 0.06 0.01 0.01 4.20

Prescribing where Tasc PCN is lower than most

BNF Chemical Chemical Items BNF Subparagraph Subparagraph Items Ratio Mean std Z_Score Plots
Dexamethasone 153 Otitis externa 305 0.50 0.78 0.08 -3.63
Combined ethinylestradiol 30mcg 474 Combined hormonal contraceptives 690 0.69 0.80 0.04 -2.85
Fusidic acid 99 Antibacterial preparations also used systemically 202 0.49 0.73 0.09 -2.50
Alfentanil hydrochloride 0 Opioid analgesics 4 0.00 0.85 0.34 -2.49
Cefalexin 105 Cephalosporins 128 0.82 0.96 0.06 -2.45