Process Indicators

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Utilisation by High Need

• What is the definition of High Needs?The definition of ‘high need’ is an enrollee who is Maori, Pacific or lives in a NZDep decile 9 or 10 area.

• Why is this an indicator?Equity is one of the governing principles for the Programme. This indicator is focused on determining whether high needs patients are being seen by their GP at least as often as non-high needs patients. This is seen as a simple measure of high needs patients access to services.

• Those PHOs with higher nurse consults are disadvantaged, when will nurse consults be used for this indicator? Nurse consults are reported as information only at the moment. The quality of the nurse consult data has been an issue up till now. The intention is that the Programme will look to add Nurse consults to the indicator in the future.

• Why is there higher weighting given to high need indicators as this disadvantages those PHOs with low High need populations?One of the fundamental aims of the Primary Health Care Strategy is to improve access to health services for those who are in most need of care and who have historically missed out. Equity is one of the governing principles of the programme.

Some PHOs consider that PHOs with low high need populations may be advantaged by the fact that they have fewer patients to work with to achieve their high needs targets.

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