SLAM - Service Level Agreement Manager for healthcare providers.

The Leading Service Level Agreement Manager (SLAM) in the NHS
The PSCAL Service Level Agreement Manager (SLAM) is an activity and income contract setting and monitoring tool, which complies completely with NHS Payment by Results (PbR) methodology. However, SLAM goes much further than this in allowing the Trust to plan and monitor its local agreements for non-PbR activity and arrangements.

SLAM will take a Specialty and Point of Delivery (POD) activity plan, then using a specified out-turn dataset, devolve a Specialty/POD/HRG plan and, using a combination of national tariff for PbR activity and local PCT specific tariffs for non-PbR activity, will calculate a planned income for each PCT. Actual activity is imported from the ‘NHS FCE to spell converter output’. During the import the specialist topups, excess bed-days, non-elective non-emergency activity and POD categories are calculated and assigned to each PCT. Being able to import this data without the need to manipulate it saves time and eradicates errors. Actual activity can be imported with patient details, GP, GP practice and consultant information, in addition to this there are five user defined fields.

For the Trust SLA contracts, actual versus plan in activity and price to the lowest level (HRG) can easily be accessed. Results can be viewed either in:

• The data browser screens, where data is easily exported to Excel
• Standard reports
• User defined reports

NCAs (Non Contracted Activity) can be reported at PCT level or at a group level representing all NCA activity. SLAM offers many features to accommodate local arrangements such as:

• marginal tariffs
• tolerances
• phasing profiles
• trend prediction

For a healthcare services provider, SLAM will:

• Produce activity and income variance reports on a monthly or cumulative basis for the total SLA contract not just the PbR items
• Facilitate non activity items such as values for screening, high cost drugs etc
• Give backing information for NCA invoicing
• Take the drudge out of data manipulation and maintenance of complicated linked spreadsheets
• Give confidence in the data being presented to PCTs and the Trust board

PCT Provider Arm

SLAM for Providers has been successfully used by PCTs to manage and report on their provider services, with the benefit of timely and accurate information.

Key Features:

• Multi-model facility
• Extremely easy import and data validation with user friendly and intuitive menus
• Imports from Access, Excel and CSV formats
• Interfaces with FCE to Spell converter output
• Carries all published National Tariffs and MFFs
• PCT specific tariffs
• Marginal tariffs for non PbR activity
• Complies fully with PbR methodology
• Accommodates all the latest guidance to encompass 2007/8 contracts with thresholds
• Uses detailed out-turn of previous year to determine case-mix for plan at PCT/Speciality/POD level
• Cumulative to date or month-on-month analysis
• Produces agreed SLA statement by PCT analysed by Specialty, POD and (PbR) HRGs
• Differential monthly phasing of planned activity by Commissioner – whole or fractional spells
• Facilitates monthly activity download for comparison of actual vs plan
• Actual activity can drill down to practice code, patient ID and consultant code
• Marginal tariffs, tolerances, floors and ceilings
• Custom POD input to facilitate non Spell activity
• Ad hoc entries allow cash values to be phased across the year
• Trend predictor for actual activity
• Straight line or phased
• Four cluster levels to group

Commissioners/Providers for reporting purposes

• Specialty grouping to highlight over/under performance at directorate level
  

Service Line Reporting

SLAM automatically feeds the plan, actual and activity into the PSCAL Report Master module. If you are fortunate enough to have the PSCAL Cost Master PLC system, the income ties up with the costing to produce accurate, timely and instantly produced web reporting at Trust, service line, specialty, POD, HRG and patient level. The SLAM and Cost Master PLC data includes everything not just the PbR tariff items. The five ‘Monitor’ recommended Service Line Reports are available to run alongside many others with drilldown facility to the lowest level (patient level, cost source etc.).

• POD grouping
• Schedules to group types of contract for reporting
• Flexible reporting capability – new report writer

To find out more call 0845 054 0066 or email enquires@pscal.com