Primary Health Care

Enrolment

Enrolment Information for the public
Enrolment Demographics
Enrolment Rules and Guidelines
NZHIS Enrolment Collection

Enrolment Information for the Public

Enrolment in a PHO is voluntary, but people are encouraged to join a PHO in order to gain the benefits associated with belonging to a PHO, which include cheaper doctors visits and reduced costs on prescription medicines.

Most general practices are now part of a PHO. If you are not enrolled in a PHO, ask your regular doctor if they are part of a PHO.

To enrol, usually you will have to sign a form which the doctor, nurse or medical centre receptionist will give you. The form will usually ask you for your personal details such as name, age, date of birth, address and ethnicity. The information collected at enrolment comes under the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994, so the privacy of your information is protected.

To check if you are already enrolled in a PHO freephone 0800 252 464 (0800 HLTH 4 U)

The leaflet - Enrolling with a PHO: Answering your Questions (PDF, 145 KB) describes what a PHO is, and explains enrolment in more detail.

Enrolment Demographics

Download the latest PHO Enrolment Demographics as at October 2009 (ZIP, 2 MB)

Download the latest PHO Enrolment Demographics as at July 2009 (ZIP, 2 MB)

Download the latest PHO Enrolment Demographics as at July 2009 (Excel, 17 MB - WARNING large file)

As at 1 July 2007 all First Contact, Service to Improve Access, Health Promotion, Management Fees, Pharmaceutical top-up an Laboratory spend on Primary Care funding was devolved to the DHBs, we do not hold information on the amounts DHBs fund the PHOs.

Enrolment Rules and Guidelines

The following documents were developed for PHOs and DHBs for enrolling PHO populations.

Enrolment Requirements for PHOs outlines the 13 enrolment parameters for PHOs, including operational policies and requirements.

Enrolment Manual for PHOs (PDF, 118 KB) was published in December 2002 to introduce key aspects of the national PHO Enrolment System to staff of DHBs and of PHOs actively involved in the PHO enrolment process.

NZHIS Enrolment Collection

The PHO Enrolment Collection was established in 2005 and is administered by the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS).

The PHO Enrolment Collection is a national collection that holds Primary Healthcare System patient enrolment data for the following uses:

To assist PHOs, DHBs and the Ministry of Health in reporting and monitoring patient enrolment under the PHCS
To provide PHOs, DHBs, the Ministry of Health and health researchers with population data to assist with population health research
To assist PHOs in examining and improving the quality of their enrolment information

Page last updated: 5 November 2009