Evaluation of the Healthline service

The evaluation of the Healthline service
Final evaluative report

Date of publication: June 2002

The decision to pilot a telephone-based health information service in New Zealand is best considered in the light of the Ministry of Health’s ongoing process of optimising the delivery of public health services in New Zealand.

Originally funded by the Health Funding Authority and supported by the Ministry of Health, the Healthline service was launched on 8 May 2000 on the basis that it was to be piloted in four regions (viz. Northland, Gisborne/East Coast, Canterbury and West Coast) for two years.

These regions were selected for their diversity to include both North Island and South Island sites; sites that are largely provincial/rural in their character and other sites that are largely urban. The pilot regions consequently differ in terms of population size, ethnicity, socioeconomic levels, household composition, and the ownership/use of motor vehicles, telephones, etc.; factors that can impact on the access to health services. Importantly, the regions differ in terms of health services currently available.

The launch of the Healthline service was preceded by an extensive period of research involving the examination of similar services in other countries. Service specifications set by the Health Funding Authority and subsequently followed through by the Ministry of Health took into account the need for the service to be adapted to the New Zealand environment.

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