Identity standards

The Ethnicity Data Protocols are a set of standard procedures for collecting, recording and using data on the ethnicity of patients, service users and health workers.

The protocols require ethnicity data to be accurately and consistently collected by all frontline hospital and primary and community health services. 

The protocols were first published in 2004 and revised in 2009 and 2017 to reflect changes to the ethnicity standard classification and new procedures.

Our protocols use Ethnicity New Zealand Standard Classification 2005 V2.1.0. Implementers upgrading from the previous standard classification should refer to Ethnicity New Zealand Standard Classification 2005 V2.0.0 to V2.1.0 V1.0.0.

This document defines the data to be provided in the Health Provider Index (HPI). The HPI is a directory of health professionals, organisations and facilities.

It provides unique identifiers and core information on health providers, as well as a basis for controlling who can access health information, and for protecting the privacy of health records by verifying the identity of users. 

• HISO 10005 Health Practitioner Index (HPI) Data Set (pdf, 528 KB)
• 2018 Health Provider Index/South Island Regional Service Providers Index -letter to DHBs (pdf, 279 KB)

Revision work is underway

A revision of the HPI standards is underway and we will publish a new edition later in 2020 to reflect planned changes to the HPI outlined in the attached letter to DHBs. The changes will enhance the organisation, facility and practitioner data sets, extend the standard to cover all health workers, add health services and teams as new actors, and align data element specifications and data domains with current standards.

Other key changes will include:

• Health care occupations, service types and clinical specialties will be represented using SNOMED CT
• The New Zealand Business Number (NZBN) and an extended system of Global Location Numbers (GLNs) for facilities will be fully supported
• The standard will be aligned to the published government data content requirements.

The SNOMED reference sets in development are:

• Clinical specialty refset – in the HPI context, what a health professional is trained to do – eg, Physiotherapy
• Health occupation refset – the job role they perform, eg Physiotherapist
• Health service type refset – the type of service offered by an provider organisation to patients, eg Physiotherapy service

Each data element of the Health Practitioner Index (HPI) data set that requires coding has a common set of codes presented in this document. The HPI is a directory of health professionals, organisations and facilities.

• HISO 10006 Health Practitioner Index (HPI) Code Set (pdf, 630 KB)

It provides unique identifiers and core information on health practitioners, as well as a basis for controlling who can access health information, and for protecting the privacy of health records by verifying the identity of users. This is critical to practitioners wishing to access and manage electronic health information from many different locations.

Revision work is underway

A revision of the HPI standards is underway and we will publish a new edition in early 2020. This will extend the organisation, facility and practitioner data sets, extend the standard to all health workers, add health services and teams as new actors, and align data element specifications and data domains with current standards. Health care occupations, service types and clinical specialties will be represented using SNOMED CT, for example.

Published July 2024

This document presents a standard data set specification for the collection and representation of personal identity, demographic and digital account information for patients and consumers of health and disability services.

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Published 2018

Summary of public comment received on proposed changes to the National Health Index system and HISO 10046 – the Consumer Health Identity Standard

This standard is a data set specification for patient/consumer identity and demographic information as recorded by the National Health Index (NHI) system.

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Summary

The HISO committee has endorsed the Stats NZ Iwi statistical standard for use across the health and disability sector in New Zealand. While the inclusion and use of iwi classification is not yet mandatory in health systems, when such information is collected and used, the Stats NZ standard must be followed.

• HISO 10068:2017 Iwi Statistical Standard (Stats NZ)

The iwi statistical standard

The Iwi statistical standard, published by Stats NZ, provides guidelines for how to gather, organise, and report iwi and iwi-related groups’ information and statistics.

Iwi and Māori want information on iwi and iwi-related groups to support the well-being and development of their people. This standard is useful for iwi, Māori, government agencies and researchers who collect iwi information. Government wants this information to assist with planning, delivering, and monitoring services for iwi and Māori.

Following the standard’s guidelines ensures that information on iwi and iwi-related groups is valuable and useful to iwi, Māori, and government.

The focus of the standard is whakapapa-based kinship groupings. Groups included in the iwi and iwi-related groups’ statistical classification (list) must fit the description (concept and definition) of iwi used in this standard.

The ongoing maintenance of these classifications is performed by Stats NZ and monitored by the Ministry of Health.

Search for the Iwi statistical standard