Broadly, campaigns fall into two categories: those with published guidance and those without.
Most of our campaigns are based on published guidance from NHS England, e.g.:
**QOF Business Rules, or**
For campaigns without published NHSE guidance, Hippo Labs’ clinical team build searches according to the most relevant clinical specification and benchmarks, often based on authoritative resources such as:
UKHSA Guidance, e.g. the Green Book
There are numerous reasons why the numbers in a Hippo-built campaign might differ from other ‘gold-standard’ searches that practices may use, such as Ardens or EMIS Library searches. These include:
Subtle differences in how timeframes are defined (e.g. QOF/financial year versus last 12 months)
Subtle differences in defining targets, e.g.
How hypertension is defined between NHSE and NICE CKS (NHSE aim for ≤140/90, NICE aim for <140/90)
Subtle differences in defining patient groups, e.g.
How immunosuppression is defined between NHSE guidance and the Green Book
When a patient becomes eligible for a campaign
The small differences as outlined above will often ultimately result in the majority of the same people being invite over time, but - if checking on a single day - the numbers in a Hippo Labs’ campaign versus an Ardens/EMIS Library search will typically differ.
Hippo Labs strive to have the most clinically accurate indicators, based on the most up-to-date guidance, and these are rigorously quality-tested prior to deployment.