Segmentation

Segmentation and the John Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups

You may have noticed a new test result in your NHS App, referring to Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups.  The description of the result is "Johns Hopkins clinical groups system score", followed by a number. We are now using this number as part of our segmentation work in Practice. 

Segmentation is a simple way of categorising patients based on their specific health needs. It helps us as a practice understand the individual needs of our patients based on their health and wellbeing to support personalised care and ensures you get the right support in a timely way.

What are the benefits of segmentation?

• Personalised Care. By understanding the needs of each group better, we can personalise care to those people. This leads to improved health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
• Resource Allocation. By using the best treatment for each group it helps us make best use of our money and staff. It also means we can direct people to the right place first time.
• Improved Health Outcomes. We can better identify those who need early interventions or tailored care plans. This leads to improved health outcomes, particularly for patients with chronic conditions.
• Preventative Care. We can identify people who may need treatment before issues occur. By preventing complications, we can keep people healthier for longer.

How do we do segmentation?

1. Data Collection: Data is collected from primary and secondary care records and some public health services.  Primary care records are those held by GP surgeries and examples of secondary care records admissions to hospital, emergency attendance and outpatient appointments etc. The data is updated monthly so is accurate and timely.  In Oxfordshire this is done using data from the Thames Valley Sharing (TVS) Record platform.  You can read more about the TVS here. 
2. Identifying Segments: The TVS Care Record platform runs the John Hopkins algorithm. This groups people into the 11 segments listed above. It uses information like what conditions a person has and how often they see a doctor.
3. Analysis Tools. The practice uses the analysis to provide the best treatment to patients. For example, those with the greatest need seeing the same clinician where possible etc.
4. Intervention. We can use this analysis in one of three ways. The first is to provide active treatment to the selected group (e.g. inviting them for a blood pressure check up). The second is to change how we work for that group (e.g. longer appointments for more complex patients). The third is to change the services we provide (e.g. increasing the number of specialist nurses in a certain area).

How do we protect your information?

The Johns Hopkins Hospital/  Health System has a strong reputation for medical excellence, commitment to data security and privacy and very well established data governance.  There are a range of controls in place to protect patient data.  To access the Thames Valley Sharing Record organisations must;

• Meet a qualifying standard which all organisations involved in TVS have agreed to
• Sign confidentiality agreements
• Use role based access controls which restrict permission to staff with a legitimate reason to access patient data
• Agree to carry out and submit audits of staff accessing data
• Train staff to a set standard
• Inform patients via their privacy notice

In 2023 King's Counsel reviewed and confirmed that these arrangements are suitably lawful and robust.  

If you have any questions about this then please contact us in the usual way.