Consultant Out-Patient Episode

A Consultant Out-Patient Episode is an ACTIVITY GROUP.

A Consultant Out-Patient Episode is an episode of care for a particular PATIENT comprising a series of Out-Patient Attendances Consultant, in respect of one referral, managed by the same CONSULTANT or, in the case of shared-care, by two or more CONSULTANTS equally participating in care. Where care is provided by two or more CONSULTANTS within the same episode, one CONSULTANT will take overriding responsibility for the PATIENT and only one Consultant Out-Patient Episode is recorded. Additional CONSULTANTS participating in the care of a PATIENT are defined as Shared Care Out-Patient Consultants.

A Consultant Out-Patient Episode  can overlap with other Consultant Out-Patient Episodes or Consultant Episodes (Hospital Provider) for a PATIENT using a Hospital Bed.

A Consultant Out-Patient Episode starts on the date the PATIENT first sees or is in contact with the CONSULTANT at an Out-Patient Attendance Consultant. The episode ends when the PATIENT is not given a further Out-Patient Appointment by the CONSULTANT or the PATIENT has not attended or been contacted for six months with no forthcoming APPOINTMENT. If after discharge the condition deteriorates and the PATIENT returns to a clinic run by the same CONSULTANT, this is a new episode (referral).

During the Consultant Out-Patient Episode the PATIENT may be subject to more than one ADMINISTRATIVE CATEGORY PERIOD.

Do not count the following attendances or contacts as part of a Consultant Out-Patient Episode:

• Nurse Clinic APPOINTMENT

   / attendance;

• face to face contacts with other health professionals;

• contact with community NURSES;

If the treatment changes but the CONSULTANT stays the same, record it as the same Consultant Out-Patient Episode; if the CONSULTANT changes but the treatment stays the same, record it as a new Consultant Out-Patient Episode.

A Consultant Out-Patient Episode  would not necessarily terminate because a PATIENT was admitted into hospital or placed on an ELECTIVE ADMISSION LIST; if further APPOINTMENTS in respect of the same referral with the CONSULTANT are intended or expected, these would all be included in the same Consultant Out-Patient Episode, with attendances after the end of a Hospital Provider Spell counting as follow-up attendances.

Note that a PATIENT can have a concurrent Consultant Out-Patient Episode and Hospital Provider Spell. For example, a PATIENT in a long-stay WARD under the care of a psychiatrist might also be attending a general surgeon.