💊 Understanding the SPS Monitoring Indicators

Hippo includes a range of Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) monitoring indicators to help practices identify patients taking medicines that require regular safety monitoring.

These indicators can be used to:

Create Recall Campaigns
Monitor performance through the Indicator Performance dashboard
Identify patients who may be overdue important blood tests, observations or measurements

Each indicator looks for patients taking a particular medicine and checks whether the relevant monitoring has been completed within the required timeframe.

🩺 A note about declined monitoring

For many SPS indicators, a documented decline is treated in the same way as a completed check.

For example, if a patient has declined a:

Blood test
Blood pressure check
Weight check

they will usually not continue to appear as overdue for that monitoring requirement.

❤️ Cardiovascular & Renal Monitoring

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
ACE Inhibitors / ARBs `SPSMMONGSTABAA`	Kidney function (U&Es) and blood pressure	Within the last 12 months, where the medicine has been issued within the last 3 months
Digoxin `SPSMMONGSTABDIG`	Calcium, kidney function (U&Es) and magnesium	Within the last 12 months
Eplerenone `SPSMMONGSTABEPL`	Kidney function (U&Es)	Within the last 6 months
Furosemide `SPSMMONGSTABFURO`	Kidney function (U&Es)	Within the last 6 months

🧪 Endocrine & Metabolic Monitoring

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
Carbimazole `SPSMMONGSTABCARB`	Thyroid function (TFTs)	Within the last 3 months
Long-term Corticosteroids `SPSMMONGSTABCORT`	HbA1c, kidney function, cholesterol and blood pressure	Within the last 12 months
Pioglitazone `SPSMMONGSTABPIO`	Liver function (LFTs), HbA1c and weight	Within the last 12 months
Statins `SPSMMONGSTABSTAT`	Lipid profile and liver function (LFTs)	Within the last 12 months

🦴 Bone Health

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
Alfacalcidol `SPSMMONGSTABALF`	Bone profile, parathyroid hormone, kidney function and magnesium	Within the last 3 months

💉 Immunosuppressants & DMARDs

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
Hydroxychloroquine `SPSMMONGSTABHCQ`	Liver function, kidney function and weight	Within the last 12 months
Hydroxycarbamide `SPSMMONGSTABHYD`	Full blood count, liver function, kidney function, LDH and urate	Within the last 3 months
Mercaptopurine `SPSMMONGSTABMERC`	Full blood count, liver function and kidney function	Within the last 3 months
Mesalazine `SPSMMONGSTABMES`	Kidney function, liver function and full blood count	Within the last 12 months
Mycophenolate `SPSMMONGSTABMYCO`	Liver function, full blood count and kidney function	Within the last 12 weeks
Penicillamine `SPSMMONGSTABPEN`	Liver function, full blood count, kidney function and urine dipstick	Within the last 3 months
Sulfasalazine `SPSMMONGSTABSULF`	Kidney function, liver function and full blood count	Within the last 12 months

💊 Long-term Antibiotics

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
Minocycline `SPSMMONGSTABMINO`	Kidney function, liver function and full blood count	Within the last 3 months, for patients with 2 or more issues in 6 months
Nitrofurantoin `SPSMMONGSTABNIT`	Kidney function and liver function	Within the last 12 months, for patients with 3 or more issues in 12 months

🧠 Neurology & Cognition

Medicine and indicator	Monitoring required	Timeframe
Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors `SPSMMONGSTABACI`	Pulse rate	Within the last 6 months
Valproate `SPSMMONGSTABVALP`	Full blood count, liver function and BMI or weight	Within the last 12 months

🦛 Summary

SPS monitoring indicators help practices identify patients who may be overdue important medication safety checks.

They can be used in Recall Campaigns or viewed in the Indicator Performance dashboard to support proactive monitoring for patients taking higher-risk medicines.