OpenPrescribing.net: an open online tool for audit, feedback and alerts on quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of prescribing in primary care.
GOLDACRE B., Powell-Smith A., Evans D., MacKenna B., Inglesby P., Croker R., WALKER A., CURTIS H., Bacon S.
OpenPrescribing.net is an openly accessible online service for importing, transforming, analysing, and presenting approximately half a billion rows of data from over 15 sources, built in Django and Python. As of 2019 OpenPrescribing has over 15,000 unique users each month. It provides tools to explore highly granular NHS primary care prescribing data, automatically identifying opportunities to improve the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness at all individual GP practices across England, providing prompts, peer comparison, open public audit, feedback, and supporting the development of self-formulated conditional plans. Tools support complex bespoke data queries, alongside numerous predefined standard measures for safety, cost, and effectiveness. 80% of CCGs are signed up to monthly alerts which automatically identify high priority action items for them using complex statistical process control approaches. OpenPrescribing is built by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, clinicians and academics pooling skills and knowledge. We have published peer reviewed research (JMIR 2019) showing that prescribing is substantially improved in practices and CCGs where OpenPrescribing data is accessed.