HomeArticlesDid you know PHIN can help your practice meet legal requirements?

Did you know PHIN can help your practice meet legal requirements?

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Private Healthcare Market Investigation Order 2014 sets out the actions that the sector is required to take to ensure that it works competitively.

One area that the Order addresses is the requirement to provide potential users with access to independent information about the performance of those providing services, and the charges made for those services. Hospitals which admit private patients must submit information about each episode of private care to the Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN). This information allows PHIN to publish performance measures for these hospitals in line with the CMA’s requirements. To fulfil their legal obligation, consultants must submit the professional fees that they charge to patients for consultations and procedures for each site where they practice privately. Fees need to be submitted via PHIN’s Consultant Portal.

Consultants are also invited to review and verify the data submitted by hospitals/facilities about their practice and to review patient feedback data.

What’s in it for me?

As well as fulfilling the legal duties, PHIN strongly encourages consultants to complete a profile which will be published on its website. Patients have informed PHIN that they want to see information about consultants who may possibly be able to help them with treatment or care in relation to their condition. 76% of consultants who create a complete profile (including a photograph and information about their practice) are usually viewed by PHIN’s website users. Some consultants receive many hundreds of views. There is a direct link between site views and clicks through to contact information (telephone/email) provided by consultants. The number of patients using PHIN’s website is increasing, so these numbers will only rise.

The dedicated Consultant team at PHIN offers virtual sessions to consultants to cover the following topics:

· Logging onto the portal

· Viewing your practice report

· Verifying your data for publication

· Submitting and approving fees

· Reviewing patient feedback

· Creating a profile about you

The Team is always happy to help with any queries and the booking of virtual sessions and can be contacted via email: consultants@phin.org.uk or by calling 020 3143 3177.