Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. AF is included in QOF and it is important practices are recording activity for this purpose and for patient care. 


To make recording and searching this information easier, Ardens has created various AF resources. The following support article will outline what is available.


Recording Information on the Management of AF Patients

The Ardens Atrial Fibrillation template has been designed to standardise consultations, ensuring clinicians are following the latest national guidelines and recording accurate coding of data. It is helpful for recording the latest contract requirements and completing a structured review.


To locate the Ardens Atrial Fibrillation Template, access the relevant patient record. Open a new consultation and select the Run Template option (if not in consultations, click on the Add button on the EMIS ribbon, followed by Data Using Template option).


This will open the Template Picker screen. If you have accessed any templates before, these will display to the left of the screen. Search for the template by typing “AF” in the search box.

 


This will return the Atrial Fibrillation - AF (Ardens) template (alternatively select the Ardens > Clinical Templates > Cardiology templates folder to the right of the screen).


All the Ardens templates follow the latest NICE guidance and best practice information. This template includes:


  • Contracts - QOF page for capturing QOF requirements.
  • History/Exam page to record history and examination data including smoking status.
  • Alcohol screening page to record Audit C and FAST scoring.
  • Investigations & Scores page to document requests for investigations such as estimated creatinine clearance, ECG, chest X-ray and record scores such as CHA2DS2-Vasc and bleeding risk assessment.
  • Management page to document advice and management.
  • Referrals page to record signposting and referrals.
  • Review Completion and Recall page providing the ability to document an annual or interim review.
  • Resources & Messaging page providing helpful links to information for patients and professionals and information on QOF indicators.
  • Template Info/Learning Points page providing template information and instructions for use, NICE copyright information and links to appraisal toolkits to enable recording of learning.




Ardens AF Searches

There are various searches that might be useful  for the management of AF patients:


  • Prescribing Monitoring Searches - drug monitoring searches to ensure the correct tests are completed.
  • Ardens Case Finders - contains a suite of searches to support practices to improve data quality and ensure QOF payments are correctly calculated for your AF patients.  



If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact Ardens support on: support-emis@ardens.org.uk