TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
NHS England has released guidance for the phased implementation of Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) within primary care weight management services. For full details, please refer to the NICE guidance.
Ardens has developed a suite of resources to support practices, including tools to:
- Identify eligible patients
- Record the assessment, medication initiation and review
- Reporting suite and dashboard to monitor patients on the treatment pathway
Please check with your ICB to confirm how your area is delivering the pathway. Delivery models may vary, with some areas commissioning General Practice for the full pathway and others assigning elements such as prescribing or wraparound care to external providers.
Reports - Eligibility
To identify eligible patients for the pathway, access the reports by navigating to the Population Reporting module, followed by Ardens Searches > 5.30 Contracts - National (Misc) > Obesity Medication Pathway > Registers.
Right click on the report folder to Run. This will identify patients by cohort.
Template
Before prescribing Tirzepatide clinicians must discuss with the patient the benefits, limitations, and side effects of the medication. The template can be used to guide the clinician through the initial assessment, initiation and review.
All users can access the template in two ways:
- Pressing F12 and adding/selecting the "All Template Launcher" protocol. The template can be accessed via Clinical Template (by category) > Social + Lifestyle.
- Searching for the "NHS Obesity Medication Pathway" template by selecting "Run Template" in a consultation.
Once you have accessed the template, you can use the pages on the left to navigate to the appropriate step in the patient's pathway.
The Assessment page can be used to record the patient's co-morbidities, eligibility and to indicator the medication pathway has been started, declined or unsuitable.
If the medication pathway has been initiated for the patient, the Medication Initiation page will guide the clinician through the recommended management discussions, including potential side effects for the patient, dietary advice, and guidance on increasing physical activity.
The Medication Review page can be used to record if the target weight has been achieved and the patient's next steps i.e. to stop or continue with the medication.
For patients receiving multidisciplinary care, clinicians can indicate that the patient is on the Wraparound Support pathway. This page allows for documentation of the key components of the pathway, including the initial assessment and ongoing management.
Once complete, Save Template. This will save information back to the consultation.
Reports - Activity
Activity reports are available to monitor patients currently on the pathway, those receiving wraparound support, and records of patients who have or have not received a review.
The reports can be accessed by navigating to the Population Reporting module, followed by Ardens Searches > 5.30 Contracts - National (Misc) > Obesity Medication Pathway.
Dashboard
For Ardens Manager subscribers, the "NHS Obesity Medication Pathway" dashboard will provide a visual overview of patient identification, uptake of the obesity medication pathway, and pathway activity overtime.
Select the Contracts option, followed by NHS Obesity Medication Pathway.
The standard Ardens Manager features can be used on the dashboard for monitoring trends, benchmarking activities, and breaking down data by demographics and staff activity. For more information on using these features, please access our support articles.
If you require any further assistance on the process above, please contact the Ardens EMIS Support Team on: support-emis@ardens.org.uk.