Enabling population health with primary care data

Kia ora

This email is to introduce a new programme to expand health sector datasets to help with planning, codesign, commissioning and policy development across the health system.

The Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority are wanting to partner with you to expand data sourced from primary care and join it with data already held nationally by the Ministry of Health.

About the Primary Health Dataset Programme

As you know New Zealand already has many national datasets containing health information. These include the National Minimum Dataset, National Maternity Collection, Mortality Collection, NZ Cancer Registry, the National Immunisation Register and primary care enrolment data. These datasets are not joined up and there is data that is not associated with the sets held nationally.

These datasets are brought together in separate ways and at different times to help with planning, codesign, commissioning and policy development across the health system. Some primary care data is not included alongside these datasets at a national level, making it difficult to plan and invest in health service improvement nationally, regionally, and locally.

We want to partner with the sector to respectfully join current data sets up, bring in other data not held nationally and then build a collective national view of this data to be shared together to improve population level planning at a national, regional and locality level. Māori data sovereignty and privacy will be key components of the programme.

Initially the PHDP team will work in partnership with general practice and Primary Health Organisations to develop the enhanced data sets informed by hapori Māori and wider stakeholders. Linkages to other data held by community providers outside of general practice will evolve over time.

It is planned to work with the sector to assemble relevant data and combine this with data already held – to be available for analytical use by mid 2023.

More information about this programme is available on the Ministry of Health website (here) and will be updated as the programme progresses. We would like to invite you to an online meeting to give you an overview of the programme. Please reply to this email if you are keen to attend.

In the meantime, we would value your early thoughts on the programme (click here for survey) or if you have any feedback on the programme, including ideas, concerns, and previous experience, your comments and advice are welcome and can be sent to phdp@health.govt.nz.

Ngā mihi 

Martin Hefford

Interim Workstream Lead Commissioning and Localities