Using EMIS Searches for Population Health Management in PCNs

• 4th May 2026

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• What is population health management in a PCN?
• How do you run population health searches in EMIS?
• Which EMIS searches are most useful for PCN pharmacy teams?
• How can PCNs turn EMIS search data into clinical action?

EMIS searches population health are fundamental to how Primary Care Networks (PCNs) deliver proactive, data-led population health management (PHM). They enable teams to identify at-risk patient cohorts and target interventions effectively. This approach significantly improves patient outcomes and enhances the efficiency of PHM strategies, moving beyond reactive care to a more preventative model. Understanding EMIS population reporting is key, highlighting the importance of EMIS searches primary care.

Key Takeaways

• Data-led prioritisation: EMIS searches transform raw practice data into actionable worklists for clinical teams.
• Proactive care delivery: Use searches to identify high-risk patients for Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs), long-term condition (LTC) reviews, and medicines safety checks.
• Efficiency gains: Automated reporting reduces administrative burden and ensures Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and Network Contract DES targets are met systematically.

What is population health management in a PCN?

Population Health Management (PHM) systematically improves the health of an entire population. Within a PCN, this means using data to understand local health needs, identify at-risk groups, and design targeted interventions. This proactive strategy reduces health inequalities and delivers personalised, preventative healthcare. Effective PCN population health management relies heavily on these principles. EMIS searches population health are the primary mechanism for this data-driven approach, enabling truly proactive care.

PHM operates on three core pillars: Know, Connect, and Prevent. PCNs must know their population’s health needs via data analysis, connect care across health and social care partners, and prevent ill-health by moving from reactive to proactive care models. This supports the PCN clinical pharmacist role in delivering proactive care PCN-wide.

How do you run population health searches in EMIS?

EMIS population reporting tools are crucial for effective PHM. EMIS Web Enterprise Search and Reports functionality enables PCNs to identify patient cohorts, segment risk, monitor quality indicators, and create actionable worklists. This goes beyond basic reporting, allowing practices to access up-to-date primary care information, run repeat searches, and view population counts across multiple GP organisations.

To effectively utilise EMIS searches primary care, users access the Population Reporting module within EMIS. This module offers pre-built and customisable searches. These enable detailed patient stratification based on demographics, clinical conditions, and medication use. This is where the power of EMIS search and report truly comes into play for population health management PCN. EMIS searches population health are critical for identifying target groups for structured medication reviews EMIS and other interventions, supporting proactive care delivery across the PCN.

Which EMIS searches are most useful for PCN pharmacy teams?

Clinical pharmacy teams are central to delivering proactive care in PCNs, and EMIS searches population health are the tool that makes this possible. The PCN clinical pharmacist role is significantly enhanced by these capabilities. Key EMIS searches population health use cases include:

• Patients on 10+ repeat medicines (for polypharmacy review)
• Patients due a Structured Medication Review (SMR) to ensure medication safety and effectiveness
• Patients on high-risk medicines needing monitoring (e.g., those on anticoagulants or certain mental health medications)
• Patients with uncontrolled blood pressure, atrial fibrillation not coded as anticoagulated, or diabetes overdue review (for case-finding and LTC management)
• Patients with COPD and recent exacerbations
• Care home residents and patients with frailty (for targeted support)
• Patients with missing ethnicity coding or in deprived groups (aligned to Core20PLUS5 priorities) to address health inequalities PCN and promote equitable care

These searches form the foundation for the PCN clinical pharmacist role, identifying patients who will benefit most from targeted interventions like medication optimisation or lifestyle advice. This supports a truly proactive care PCN approach to population health management PCN.

How can PCNs turn EMIS search data into clinical action?

The value of EMIS search and report functionality goes beyond identifying patient cohorts; it lies in translating this data into meaningful clinical action. Effective EMIS population reporting enables PCNs to:

1. Prioritise Workloads: Use EMIS searches population health outputs to create focused worklists for clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other healthcare professionals, enhancing proactive care PCN delivery.
2. Target Interventions: Direct resources to patients most likely to benefit from specific interventions, such as SMRs for polypharmacy patients or proactive reviews for those with uncontrolled chronic conditions.
3. Monitor Performance: Regularly run searches to track progress against QOF, DES, and local PHM targets, allowing for continuous improvement and adaptation of strategies.
4. Inform Commissioning: Use insights from EMIS data to inform local commissioning decisions and resource allocation, ensuring services meet the evolving needs of the population health management PCN strategy.

The pharmacists pharmacy technicians who thrive in PCNs are those who receive proper integration, supervision, and role clarity from day one. Where PCNs and practices invest in their clinical pharmacy workforce, patient outcomes and practice stability improve.

Adeem Azhar, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer – Core Prescribing Solutions

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