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Glossary

Glossary of terms

A

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) :Is the trade association for about a hundred companies in the UK producing prescription medicines. Its member companies research, develop, manufacture and supply more than 90 per cent of the medicines prescribed through the National Health Service (NHS).

Audience: The people to which the mailing will be sent.

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B

Blanket mailing: Mailing to everyone in a particular audience e.g. all GP's.
Brick: See RSA brick.
Brick to territory lists: A list supplied by you showing which reps cover which RSA bricks or postcode area. This is used to code the reply paid cards so we know which territory they belong to.
Brief: The instructions outlining what is to be done for clients mailing.
Business Reply Envelope (BRE): An envelope with ITD's freepost address allowing the recipient to return an item postage free.

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C

 
CFEP: Client Focused Evaluations Program.
Collating: Match items i.e. matching personalised letter with the same personalised questionnaire.
Creative: The concept involved on the mailing.

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D

Data capture: Recording data (names, PIN numbers, tick boxes etc) from reply paid cards, surveys, questionnaires etc.
Dear Doctor letter: A letter addressed "Dear Doctor" as opposed to a personalised one.
Decoy names: (see Seeds).
De-dupe: When data comes from various sources it may create duplications. Data therefore is de-duped so that an individual will not be mailed twice for the same mailing.
Demographic data: Data covering location, age and gender.
Desk Drop: The date on which you want the communication to arrive on the recipients desk.
Duplex: Printed on both sides.

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E

Envelopes
  • Wallet -opening on the long edge.
  • Pocket - opening on the short edge.
  • Window - an envelope with a window.
  • Non-window - an envelope with no window.
  • Full-face envelope - an envelope with no window.

Wallet Envelope sizes:

C6 - 114mmx162mm
C5 - 162mm x 229mm
Larger C5 - 162mm x 238mm
C4 - 229mm x 324mm
DL - 110mm x 220mm
Larger DL - 114mm x 229mm
Pocket envelope sizes:
C6 - 162mm x 114mm
C5 - 229mm x 162mm
C4 - 324mm x 229mm
DL - 220 x 110mm

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F

Fax Preference Service (FPS): Service for people to register their request not to receive unsolicited faxes calls.
Fields: Areas where a single part of the record set in a table.
Fixed field: As above, but where the number of characters can only be up to a certain length.
Flagging: Marking out a record as a specific record of interest.
Font: Type and size of text within document.
Folding: Hand folding or machine folding mailing materials ready to fit into an envelope.
Freepost Address: This will be on reply paid card or business reply envelope. This means the recipient has no need to apply a stamp. The freepost licensee will get billed for the postage.
Free Text: A term usually given to a field in a reply, which is written by the respondent and can consist of anything i.e. it is not a choice.

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G

GPAQ: General Practice Assessment Questionnaire
Grade: Seniority Levels for healthcare professionals e.g. Consultant, Specialist Registrar etc.
Gender: Data selected by male or female.

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H

Hand Label: Hand labelling an item, as it cannot be machine labelled.

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I

Inbound: Items coming into InTime's premises.
Inbound postage: Postage of items coming into InTime's freepost address or return address.
Inserts: An item that goes inside the outer envelope.
IPQ: Improving Practice Questionnaire owned by CFEP.

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J

Job title: example – Medical Director.

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L

Links: Addresses to direct users to websites.
List cleaning: A process by which the quality of the data is improved significantly.
List Supply: Where a specific target group of data is required and supplied.

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M

Mailsort: If you mail over 10,000 items you will receive a mail sort discount from the Royal Mail. There are different levels available, however, we can only tell you this once it has been run through our software.
Mailsort 3: The greatest savings can be made when utilising Mail sort 3. Up to 22% can be saved when mailing over 8000 items. However, the post office reserves the right to take up to 9 days to deliver on this service.
Mail Preference Service (MPS): Service for people to register their request not to receive unsolicited items of mail.
MDU: The Medical Defence Union, an insurance company specialising legal aid for doctors.
Merging: Combining diverse datasets into a single dataset.

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N

NAPC: National Association of Primary Care
NatPaCT: National Primary and Care Trust Development Programme
NHS: National Health Service
NPCRDC: National Primary Care Research and Development Centre

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O

One colour print:   Printing black ink on paper and no other colour.
OTC:   Over The Counter.
Outbound:   Items going out from InTime's premises.
Outbound postage:   Postage paid to send the mailing to recipient.

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P

Patient Survey:  A questionnaire sent to patients in this instance for the GMS contract which would qualify the practice for 55 points.
Pharmacy only medicine:  Can be bought over the counter but only in pharmacies.
PCO:   Primary Care Organisation - these vary throughout the UK;
PCT:    Primary Care Trust
PIN:    Personal Identifying Number of individual record.
Personalisation:   Sending mailing to specific individuals – e.g. "Dear Mr Smith", as opposed to "Dear Sir".
Personalised letter:   A letter supplied to InTime with sufficient space to insert the recipients name, address and salutation.
Pre-printed letter:   A letter supplied already printed.
POM:    Prescription Only Medicine
Points:   This refers to the system, in the new GMS contract, by which General Practitioners are remunerated.
Postage Paid Impression (PPI):   Stamped on envelope to indicate 1st / 2nd / mailsort 3.
Postcode Address File (PAF):   A postcode verification file that is run against data to verify the address is correct.
Presstream:   A method of sorting printed matter. This can save up to 40% of normal postage costs. Used when mailing newsletters, journals or magazines published and posted no less than twice a year.
Proof:   The initial draft for any written material, which requires reading to ensure that there are no mistakes.
Purging:   See De-dupe.

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R

Reply-paid card (RPC):   This is a card sent out in your mailing to the recipient offering an incentive or asking information. It has a free post address on the back so the recipient can post it back to ITD.
Return address:   An address that goes in the corner of the out envelope so if the recipient has moved it will be returned.
Responders analysis:   An evaluation of the responders from your mailing.  Usually sent to clients once a week for an agreed period of time.
RSA:   Regional Sales Analysis
RSA Brick:   A geographical area usually consisting of a number of post codes. Normally representatives territories will consist of a number of RSA bricks. Each brick must contain at least three Retail Pharmacies and will be merged into another should the number fall below three.

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S

Salutation:   Name at the top of the letter, such as 'Dear Sir'.
Seeds:   Sometimes called sleepers or decoys, they are records placed within target audience to ensure correct usage of data.
SHA:   Strategic Health Authority.
Simplex:   Printed on one side.
Specials list:   A list of personnel (other than your audience) who you would like to receive a sample of the mailing. This is usually head office staff.
Speciality:   A therapeutic area an individual works in or is interested in.
Split:   A division of the dataset e.g. by grade or area.
Stuffing:   The packing of the patient questionnaires, letters, return envelopes etc. into the outbound envelopes.

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T

Tables:   List of items identifying how the GP can gain points in the new GMS contract.
Targeted Mailing:   Mailing to specific individuals within a particular field.
Telephone Preference Service (TPS):   Service for people to register their request not to receive unsolicited telephone calls.
Traffic Light Analysis:   InTime Research's unique coloured coded analytical sheet.
Translation sheets:   A sheet written in a number of ethnic languages to direct non - English speaking patients to a help line.

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U

Unfold:   Unfold an item.

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V

Verification:   Checking that data is correct.

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W

Walksort:   A sorting methodology which is ideal for sending large volume mailings nationwide or high density mailings targeted at localised regions.

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