How can I get a username and password for Assure?

Please contact assure-enquiries@clarity.co.uk to request a username/password. We require your full name and email address in order to create a user account for Assure.

North West Users: Please contact your programme lead who will then forward your details to Clarity. Once we receive this we will email you your username and password separately to the email address supplied by your programme lead.

What is SUS Data?

The following explanation is taken from www.hscic.gov.uk

The Secondary Uses Service (SUS) is the single, comprehensive repository for healthcare data in England which enables a range of reporting and analyses to support the NHS in the delivery of healthcare services.

What is SUS?

When a patient or service user is treated or cared for, information is collected which supports their treatment. This information is also useful for many other purposes such as:

• Healthcare planning
• Commissioning services
• Payment by Results
• Improving public health
• Developing national policy

SUS is a data warehouse containing this patient-level information. Data can be clear (patient identifiable), anonymised or pseudonymised as required for the user's needs. NHS providers and commissioners can use this data for 'secondary uses'; purposes other than primary clinical care. SUS provides a range of services and functionality which you can use to analyse, report and present this data.

SUS data is held in a secure environment that maintains patient confidentiality to national standards.

Who is it for?

SUS can be accessed by:

• any healthcare provider that submits patient data to SUS (NHS and independent sector)
• organisations that commission data from SUS
• organisations that check healthcare compliance and consistency with national standards, such as Area Teams (previously SHA)

SUS access is managed using role-based access controls (RBAC) and restricted to three individuals per organisation.

Freely available aggregated data containing details of all admissions to NHS hospitals in England are provided by the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) service.

When a patient or service users is treated or cared for, information is collected which supports their treatment. This information is also useful for many other purposes.

How does SUS relate to Assure?

To answer this question there are four stages which must be understood.

Stage 1 – How SUS data is transferred to Clarity

The exact method of data transfer from the Trust systems to Clarity is determined by the Quality Programme Provider but MUST NEVER contain patient identifiable information such as Patient Name, Patient Age, Date of Birth or NHS Number.

Some Trusts will have their data uploaded to Assure by a bulk data transfer from an agreed central data centre to Clarity, other Trusts will be instructed to transfer their data from the Trust IT department to Clarity directly. Again, this will be decided by the Quality Programme Provider.

Stage 2 – Which data will be displayed in Assure?

The Quality Programme Providers instruct Clarity on the focus areas/pathways they wish to measure.

When Clarity receives SUS data this is uploaded to Assure and subjected to a series of acceptance filters based on the diagnosis or procedure coding of each patient. These filters will determine which patients are included in the Quality Programme’s Focus Areas/Pathways as stipulated by the Quality Programme Providers (who are external to Clarity Informatics).

For example: If a patient’s data contains a Heart Failure ICD10 diagnosis code they will be included in the Heart Failure population on Assure. This will then mean that the patient is now part of the Heart Failure “population”. However, if a patient’s data contains an ICD10 Diagnosis Code of a focus area/pathway not part of the Quality Programme, their data will be ignored and not uploaded to Assure.

Once the patient data has been identified as part of a population further filtering is applied. This exact filtering is also determined by the Quality Programme Provider but may contain such filters (also known as population exclusions) as:-

• If a patient is under the age of 18 years
• If a patient died

Stage 3 – Data on Assure

3a – What happens to the data once it is filtered?

Assure works in conjunction with the measures assessed as part of a Quality Programme.

As mentioned earlier, the focus areas/pathways to be assessed are stipulated by the Quality Programme Providers who will also determine which specific areas of treatment they would like to assess. These areas would be referred to as the quality measures.

For example: should a Quality Programme Provider decide that they wish to assess the quality of care Heart Failure patients are receiving, they may instruct Clarity that they wish to look at

• Prescribing of Beta Blockers
• Patient Reviews by Heart Failure Specialists
• Evaluation of Left Ventricular Function
• Smoking Cessation advice/counselling is given to patients

These would be classed as four measures within one focus area/pathway.

3b – How does the clinical record relate to the clinical data entered on Assure?

Once a patient has been established as part of a focus area/pathway within the Quality Programme, and has not been excluded from the measures due to the population exclusion criteria (established by the Quality Programme Provider) the data will be displayed in Assure.

Once the patient data has been assigned within a population, Trust Users will be required to complete various questions (known as measure questions) for each patient. These are determined by the Quality Programme Provider Trust Users will be required to complete various questions (known as measure questions) for each patient. and may contain such filters (also known as measure exclusions) as:-

• If a patient was only receiving palliative care
• The admission source of a patient (if it was via A&E etc.)

This further filtering will then ascertain whether the patient will carry on being assessed for the care they have received, or whether they will be “excluded” from the assessment.

The answers to the measure questions will be used to determine whether the patient has received a good standard of care for their diagnosis.
Each measure of a focus area/pathway will also have questions assigned to them which will also come exclusion criteria meaning that the patient will no longer be assessed for one particular measure of the focus area/pathway but will carry on to be assessed for other measures.

To help explain, let’s look at the areas of assessment (or measures) mentioned earlier for Heart Failure patients. These were:-

• Prescribing of Beta Blockers
• Patient Reviews by Heart Failure Specialists
• Evaluation of Left Ventricular Function
• Smoking Cessation advice/counselling is given to patients

Let’s assume that the Quality Programme Provider has determined that if a Heart Failure patient’s data states the patient is not sufficiently stable to start a beta-blocker for heart failure at discharge they should not be assessed any further.

When an Assure Trust User then logs into Assure and goes to the measure questions, they would see a question along the lines of
“Is there a reason documented by a consultant (or person working as part of the consultant team) for not prescribing a beta-blocker at discharge?”

If the patient record at the Trust shows that there was a reason for a beta-blocker not being prescribed at discharge then the user would answer "Yes” to this question. Assure would then look at the answer and the patient would be excluded from the Prescribing of Beta Blockers measure, but still subjected to the other measures (Patient Reviews by Heart Failure Specialists, Evaluation of Left Ventricular Function, Smoking Cessation advice/counselling is given to patients).

PLEASE NOTE: To ensure that the measures are assessed correctly the questions MUST be answered in the order they appear in Assure. Answering questions out of sequence will results in patients being assessed incorrectly and certain measure exclusions not being applied.

Stage 4 – Assessment of Care

Once all of the measure questions have been answered a summary of the patient record, showing which measures the patient has passed or failed is available on the Measure Summary. This will also detail the reason why the patient has failed a measure and therefore indicate where there has been any reduction in the quality of care given to the patient.

Flowchart of Process

What are ICD10 and OPCS Codes?

ICD10 Codes

The following explanation is taken from www.who.int

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is the standard diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. This includes the analysis of the general health situation of population groups. It is used to monitor the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems.

It is used to classify diseases and other health problems recorded on many types of health and vital records including death certificates and health records. In addition to enabling the storage and retrieval of diagnostic information for clinical, epidemiological and quality purposes, these records also provide the basis for the compilation of national mortality and morbidity statistics by WHO Member States. It is used for reimbursement and resource allocation decision-making by countries.

ICD-10 was endorsed by the Forty-third World Health Assembly in May 1990 and came into use in WHO Member States as from 1994. The 11th revision of the classification has already started and will continue until 2017.

OPCS Codes

The following explanation is taken from www.datadictionary.nhs.uk

The OPCS Classification of Interventions and Procedures (OPCS-4) is a Fundamental Information Standard. The classification is used by Health Care Providers and national and regional ORGANISATIONS.

OPCS-4 is used to support operational and strategic planning, resource utilisation, performance management, reimbursement, research and epidemiology. It is used by NHS suppliers to build/update software to support NHS business functions and interoperability.

What is principal and primary diagnosis?

Principal Diagnosis

This is the initial diagnosis or reason for an admission to hospital e.g. Chest Infection. The principle diagnosis can also be the primary diagnosis.

Primary Diagnosis

This is the MOST IMPORTANT diagnosis given to the patient within their hospital spell e.g. Heart Attack. It is the code which determines the focus area/pathway a patient’s data will be entered into on Assure. A patient may be admitted with a principal diagnosis of chest infection, but may experience a heart attack during their stay. In this instance Heart Attack would become their primary diagnosis and chest infection remain as the principal diagnosis.

Consultant names appear in two places on Assure; within the Consultant section of a patient's measure questions and within the Consultant Performance Report.

The list of Consultants shown within the measure questions is generated using the SUS data received for a Trust

The list of Consultants shown on the report are taken from all Consultants previously used by a Trust.

To add a Consultant to the list for your Trust you will need to include them in your SUS data submission. 

What is the difference between 'Finished' and 'Complete' patients?

There is a function in Assure which allows patient record to be marked as ‘Finished.’ This can be marked by the user to signify that there is no further data available to be entered into the patient. This means that even if the patient is incomplete the user knows that no further work can be done.

The ‘Finished’ button can also be used to ensure that records are not overwritten by future SSNAP/MDE data uploads.

Complete patients are patients who have had all Assure questions answered.

Data completeness rates are based on the number of patient records that contain empty fields that are needed for the calculation of a quality measure – the ‘Complete’ and ‘missing’ statistics.

ow do I prevent future SINAP or MDE imports from overwriting my data?

In order to prevent SINAP and MDE data being overwritten by future uploads users should mark these records as finished within the clinical record.

The Finished ticx box is located at the bottom of the measure questions section of a patient record, above the Save and Cancel buttons.

Other than manually, how can I complete the measure questions?

Clarity offers a MDE process to allow users to upload the answers to the measure questions to Assure via a file transfer.

If you wish to upload an MDE File please contact the Clarity Assure Team via the Clarity Helpdesk who can discuss this with you.

How can I export a list of my patient records from Assure?

You can use the Search Page to search for particular record sets that you would like to export the details of from Assure.  You may find this useful when identifying the case notes you need to request from records.

Step by step instructions on how to export the search results can be found at Search Results Page

I cannot open my Search Results Excel Export file

To Export the Data from the Search Page of Assure click on the "Export" text at the bottom of your search results.

You should then see a message similar to the following

After selecting the Open with Excel option and clicked on Ok the file should then open. 

However, if you see a greyed out Excel file this means that your PC has automatically blocked the content to protect your PC.  In this instance you will need to change the properties of the file to unblock it. 

This is how you can unblock it.

Your browser will have downloaded the file to your downloads folder, you can access this via the Download icon on your toolbar

Click on the folder icon next to the file name

This will then open up your PC download folder.  Right click on the file name and select properties.

You will then see the Properties of the file, you should then ensure that the checkbox next to Unblock is checked (this may just be an unblock button, in which case click on unblock).

Then click Apply and Ok

You should now be able to open the file as usual to see your exported search results.

What are Data Collection Questions?

Data collection questions are for data collection purposes only and do not contribute towards passing, failing or exclusion of measures. These questions are solely used to record specific information which may be useful to Trusts as part of their care review. 

Data collection questions do not count towards ACS or CPS scores and will not be visible on data completeness reports.

Why are questions not skipped based on the information entered into the source of admission/discharge destination/discharge method?

Assure does not skip individual questions based on the admission/discharge codes received via SUS.

However, patients will be automatically excluded from measures where appropriate and determined by the population criteria. This criteria can be found within the population criteria for each focus area supporting documents on this wiki.

What can I edit in Clarity Assure, when, and how?

In Clarity Assure, you can edit measure information for any patient, prior to the official ‘data set closed’ date – after this date, it becomes read-only. See the data processing calendar for your region for this information.

North East - Processing Calendar

North West - Processing Calendar

Depending on skip logic, some fields may be greyed-out or de-activated if the further questions are not required due to the answer selected for a previous question. Clarity Assure will tell you underneath these fields which answer you need to change elsewhere on the measure form to re-activate the field.
You can change the ‘Source of admission’, ‘Discharge destination’, and ‘Discharge method’ fields for any patient, by clicking the ‘Admission and discharge’ tab when viewing a patient.

If you ‘Created’ the patient, and it has not been matched with SUS, you can change all of the details you entered when originally creating the patient, except the unique patient ID. To do this, search for your patient, then under the ‘Patient’ column in the search results, click ‘Edit’. On the ‘edit patient’ page, you can also click to ‘delete’ the patient – although it is better to amend an existing patient than delete it and start again to make a change.

A patient does not have a focus area/pathway assigned to them within SUS data, will they show on Assure?

To enable a patient to be visible on Assure the SUS data MUST include coding relevant for a focus area/pathway. If there is no coding relevant to a specific focus area/pathway then the patient will not be visible on Assure.

Additionally, if the patient data has been received by Clarity but does not contain coding for a relevant focus area/pathway the patient will not be able to be created as the data is received and stored in the "background" of the Assure system but not visible due to the lack of focus area/pathway.

Can I add a patient to a focus area/pathway?

Clarity can add patients with relevant coding to a focus area/pathway.

Please contact Clarity with the patient ID, pathway and discharge month you wish the patient to be added to.

PLEASE NOTE: Some Scheme Providers may not permit additions or may request that prior approval be required to enable an addition to take place

How can I remove patient records that have been matched to SUS data?

In order to remove patients please see the Patient Removals and Amendments Guidance available on the wiki.

North East - Patient Amendments

North West - Patient Amendments

How do I see how much data I have completed on Assure?

To see how much data is still to be completed on Assure you can run a Data Completeness Report.

This will show:-

• The population for each focus area and discharge month for the report criteria entered.
• The number of records from this population that have an overall outcome of Missing (this refers to any question within the record that has not been answered)
• The percentage of the total population classed as Missing.

I’m not sure how to answer a question based on an individual patient’s specific circumstances.

If you have a patient who does not fit the normal clinical guidance (see the question guidance for the relevant focus area/pathway) please contact Clarity Informatics via the Helpdesk and we will be happy to advise you on how to complete the patient data on Assure.

PLEASE NOTE: We are only able to advise on measures designed by Clarity Informatics, any measures designed by the Scheme Providers will need to be forwarded to the Scheme Provider directly.

How is a patient included in a pathway or focus area?

 Clarity Informatics receive Trusts’ SUS data on a specific date every month (this is the SUS PBR recon submission date and the “Data sent from Trust to SUS” date of the processing calendar).  The data received on this date is uploaded to the Assure system and the clinical coding within the data at this time determines whether a patient is entered into a focus area/pathway. 

 PLEASE NOTE:  Any changes made, or additions to Trust's data that are submitted to SUS after the date stated above will not be received by Clarity Informatics and subsequently not be included in Assure.

If you have a query regarding a patient not appearing on Assure, we advise that you check the date on which this patient’s data was submitted to SUS.  

 If the data was sent prior to on the “Date Sent from Trusts to SUS” date but still not visible on Assure then the clinical coding within the data may have prevented the patient from being included in the focus area/pathway.  The clinical codes supplied by Trusts determine which patients enter a particular focus area according to specific inclusion/exclusion criteria.

 If you have investigated both of these issues and still believe the patient should be included in Assure, then please contact Clarity Informatics via the Helpdesk.

 NB: Clarity do not change any data that we receive, we upload the data as it is provided to Clarity.

I believe a patient is in the incorrect focus area, how can I change this?

You can request a patient be removed from a pathway/focus area by submitting a patient amendment request via the Helpdesk.  See Patient Removals and Amendments Guidance for your region for more information.

North East - Patient Amendments

North West - Patient Amendments

If you are requesting frequent amendments from one pathway/focus area to another it is worth checking with your Trusts Coding Department to check they are correctly coding the patient primary diagnosis.

What is a Numerator and a Denominator?

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

What is ACS?

ACS (Appropriate Care Score) is the percentage of patients who have received a full set of care measures.

How is the ACS score calculated?

ACS  - Normal Measures 

ACS looks at the overall CFA Outcome for patients

Example 1 - Pass and Missing Outcomes

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 1

ACS Denominator = 1

Example 2 - Pass and Fail Outcomes

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

*a failing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 0

ACS Denominator = 1

Example 3 - Pass, Fail, Excludes and Missing Outcomes

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

**a failing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

*** an exclusion is overruled by a pass or a fail (if there is a missing outcome then the missing outcome will overrule all other outcomes).  A CFA overall outcome will only be classified as excluded where all measure outcomes for that patient are exclusions

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 1

ACS Denominator = 2

ACS - Data Collection Mandatory questions (DCQM)

For Focus Areas containing data collection mandatory questions you MUST ignore the measure with the DCQM

Example 1 - Pass and Missing Outcomes for DCQM

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:-

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 2

ACS Denominator = 2

Example 2 - Pass and Fail Outcomes for DCQM

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

*a failing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 0

ACS Denominator = 2

Example 3 - Pass, Fail, Excludes and Missing Outcomes for DCQM

*a missing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

**a failing measure outcome on any measure means that the overall CFA outcome will be a fail

*** an exclusion is overruled by a pass or a fail (if there is a missing outcome then the missing outcome will overrule all other outcomes).  A CFA overall outcome will only be classified as excluded where all measure outcomes for that patient are exclusions

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:

Numerator is the total number of passes

Denominator is the total of passes + fails

ACS Numerator = 1

ACS Denominator = 2

What is CPS?

Composite Process Score (CPS) is the percentage of patients who have received a particular care measures

How is the CPS Score calculated?

CPS - Normal Measures

CPS loos at the individual measure outcomes and calculates as follows:-

No. of measures x No. of patients - total measures for all patients with a missing measure - exclusion measures = CPS

Example 1 - Pass and missing outcomes

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 7

CPS Denominator = 7

Example 2 - Pass and fail outcomes

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 6

CPS Denominator = 7

Example 3 - Pass, fail, excludes and missing outcomes

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 12

CPS Denominator = 13

CPS - Data collection mandatory questions (DCQM)

For Focus Areas containing data collection mandatory questions you MUST ignore the measure with the DCQM

Example 1 - Pass and missing outcomes for DCQM

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:-

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 12

CPS Denominator = 12

Example 2 - Pass and fail outcomes for DCQM

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 10

CPS Denominator = 12

Example 3 - Pass, Fail, Excludes and Missing Outcomes for DCQM

As Measure 7 is made up of solely DCQM questions then this measure should be ignored from all ACS/CPS calculations therefore the above example will be calculated as if it was as follows:

Numerator is the total number of pass outcomes

Denominator is the total of pass + fail outcomes

CPS Numerator = 10

CPS Denominator = 11

How is the Coding Completeness Report Created?

This report is produced using the SUS data submitted by Trusts. 

Coding completeness shows a percentage by trust of patients which do not have a successful diagnosis in the Rank 1 (Primary) position.  These figures are based upon the data we receive from SUS.

There are no exclusions applied to the data to exclude daycases etc. The only criteria applied to the report is for the month and organisation

This report if encounter based from admission to discharge.

The logic for this report is as follows:-

For any month:

The Uncoded number = the number of encounters for that month do not have a diagnosis record with rank 1

The Total number = the number of encounters for that month

The %Uncoded = (Uncoded/Total) * 100

The data completeness report is showing higher 'missing' figures than I expected

The Data Completeness Report looks at the overall outcome of a patient record, if any question within that record has not been answered then the overall outcome for the record is Missing.  This would suggest that at least one question within the record has not been completed.  You can print off a list of the missing data via the Search Page of Assure and clicking on More Options.

You can then enter the relevant search criteria and select the Missing Data option.  If you wish to export this information you can do so using the Export link at the bottom of the search results.  PLEASE NOTE:  the export feature is limited to 500 records.

Who are Clarity Informatics (A.K.A. Clarity)?

We are an internationally-renowned centre of excellence in the application of evidence-based health informatics and are independent to the NHS or any other Trust.

Our team of clinicians, researchers and software specialists create evidence-based systems, tools and solutions - healthcare intelligence - that monitors performance to drive quality benchmarks, improve patient experiences and outcomes and make best use of resources.

Clarity Informatics are the owners of the Clarity Assure system and are therefore responsible for the management and maintenance of this system. 

Contact Details

You can contact Clarity Assure using any of the following methods:-

• Helpdesk within the Assure system - Details on how to do this can be found in the Help section of this guide. This should be the only communication method used if you wish to include a patient’s ID within your query
• Clarity Assure Telephone Helpdesk – 0845 113 1000
• Clarity Assure email – assure-enquiries@clarity.co.uk

How do Clarity communicate with Assure users?

As well as the Helpdesk provisions available to Assure users, Clarity also communicate information regarding the Assure system, changes to measures and support services via the following methods.

eBulletins

A monthly eBulletin is sent to all users of Assure which contains important information regarding the user of Assure.

This will also include any changes that have been made by the quality scheme which also affect the Assure system.

We strongly advise all users not to unsubscribe from these mail and to read this communication as it is a valuable tool to ensure users are provided with the information they require to efficiently use the Assure system.

The eBulletins will be sent to the email address assigned to their Assure account unless Clarity have received notification advising that a different communication email should be used.

All eBulletins are published on the Assure help wiki.

Ad Hoc Communications

Occasionally Clarity may need to communicate with users directly, for example to advise that there are problems with Assure system preventing users from being able to access it.  On these occasions an email will be sent to all users (if possible) or to the relevant contacts of the quality scheme. 

These emails will be sent to will be sent to the email address assigned to a user's Assure account unless Clarity have received notification from the quality scheme advising that a different communication email should be used.

What to provide when raising a query

If you wish to query the information within Assure it is advisable that you firstly check the Assure help wiki (see the Support section of this guide) to see if the information you require is already available.  It is also advisable that you check the FAQs on the wiki to see if your question is answered.

If you are unable to find the information you require then please contact Clarity via the helpdesk or Assure email address.

Report Queries

If your query relates to details showing on a report on Assure you will need to inform us of the report you are using, the criteria you entered to create your report and the query you have.

It is preferable to supply printscreens of the information you are seeing so that we have as full an understanding of the details you are seeing as possible (you can do this by using the Printscreen button on your keyboard and then pasting into Word and attaching this to your communication).

Measure Queries

If your query relates to a measure (for example why a patient is not included in a particular measure) please provide as much information as possible.  Such as what measure you wish to query, if it involved a particular patient then please provide the patient ID as well as the individual measure question(s) you are querying.

It is preferable to supply printscreens of the information you are seeing so that we have as full an understanding of the details you are seeing as possible (you can do this by using the Printscreen button on your keyboard and then pasting into Word and attaching this to your communication).

Error Messages

If you query is in relation of an error message you have received please could you provide us with the exact details of the steps you undertook when you received the error message.  For example, if this was when you had entered measure question answers and then saved or if you clicked on a search option box etc etc.

It is preferable to supply printscreens of the information you are seeing so that we have as full an understanding of the details you are seeing as possible (you can do this by using the Printscreen button on your keyboard and then pasting into Word and attaching this to your communication).

Problems With I.T. Equipment/Internet

If you are having problems with your PC or the connection to the internet which are preventing you from accessing the Clarity Assure web based system unfortunately Clarity will not be able to assist you with this and you should refer your problem to your own IT department.

What are Spells, Episodes and Stays?

Spell 

This is also referred to as a Hospital Provider Spell and relates to a patient’s stay in hospital, from admission to discharge.

Episode

This relates to a particular Consultant.  If a patient is seen by more than one Consultant, they will have more than one episode.  It is possible to have one Consultant episode for one spell, or a number of Consultant episodes for one spell.

Stay

This is also referred to as a Ward Stay and related to the number of wards a patient has been referred to.