The Primary Care Information Service (PCIS) application gives authorised users in NHS England and GP practices access to databases and tools for planning and monitoring service delivery in primary care. Distributed access is controlled via the Open Exeter secure log-on facility and is available 24/7 using a web browser over N3.

PCIS provides access to a wealth of information held within the Registration and GP Payments systems. It also integrates information from other sources, such as Prescription Pricing Authority contracts and practice annual reports.

PCIS databases are held by the NHS England area teams and agencies can be accessed locally outside of Open Exeter. This allows data to be loaded and maintained, and fed into other local systems.

Data is collected nightly from the PCIS databases' NHAIS systems and used to populate the National Performers List, along with General Medical Council-supplied data. This data is distributed to NHS.UK and the email directory service.