Kavita Oberoi speaks at Dispensing Doctor Association Conference

Continuing the theme of payment, Kavita Oberoi, of Oberoi Consulting pointed out that practices ‘lose a lot of money through inappropriate coding’. Practice managers’ ears pricked up at this statement and a number of GPs said they were surprised to hear about ‘quiet’ changes to Read Codes that could lead to lost QoF points. Concerned readers should visit http://tinyurl.com/gzd9w to check they are using the correct codes.

To minimise inappropriate coding (leading to patients not appearing on disease registers) Ms Oberoi urged delegates to always use a diagnosis code and to identify and avoid hidden codes, which are generally those starting with a ‘history of’.

To keep abreast of personal, local and national prescribing patterns, Ms Oberoi urged delegates to visit www.gpcontract.co.uk , a website giving published QoF achievement data for every practice in the UK.

Her lively presentation challenged many previously held assumptions.