About National Health Index (NHI)

Health providers listed in Schedule 2 of the Health Information Privacy Code are allowed to access the information in the NHI. All authorised providers must comply with the provisions of the Privacy Act and Health Information Privacy Code when accessing and updating information in the NHI.

The Ministry assigns appropriate permissions, and monitors and audits the actions of health provider use of the NHI. Some health providers have limited access and can only view information; others are able to update information on the NHI.

The NHI holds the following information:

• name (including alternative names such as maiden names)
• NHI number
• address
• date of birth
• gender
• New Zealand resident status, place of birth and citizenship status  (this is dependant on what application or service is used to access the NHI*)
• ethnicity
• date of death (if appropriate).

Clinical information is not recorded on the NHI.

This information allows individuals to be positively and uniquely identified for the purposes of treatment and care, and for maintaining medical records.

Healthcare providers can be sure that they are talking about the same person, thereby reducing the chance of making a clinical decision based on wrong information. This certainty is increasingly important as patients become more mobile, when care occurs in both the primary and secondary sectors, and where emphasis is on ‘shared’ care.

* Following a review of the NZ  Resident field on the NHI, in 2011, the Sector Advisory Group and the Health Identity Project Governance group agreed the data was 'inaccurate and out of date, so cannot be relied upon for eligibility'. It was recommended that this field should be replaced by other ‘evidence of eligibility’ fields.  A decision was made to enable the storage of two key data elements to assist with the eligibility decision making process:

• a) Place of Birth (locality and country)
• b) NZ Citizenship Status

Place and country of birth, and citizenship status are able to be seen through our new web based service used by GP Patient Management Systems.  They are not yet visible to users of the NHI through hospital systems.

Hospital users continue to see the NZ residency field on the old NHI, but this is not visible to users of GP Patient Management Systems.

Providers are responsible for ensuring NHI information is accurate and current. They will do so each time a patient presents for a health service and identity information has changed. They will contact the Ministry for assistance with any data issues they cannot correct themselves.