About data collection

Data collection

Information requirements which can't be derived from regular collections are prioritised and addressed through ongoing population health surveys.

Who produces and maintains the data?

Information Services responds to data requests and publish information from the National Collections
Health & Disability Intelligence (HDI) produces and maintains the data from the New Zealand Health Surveys
Environmental Science & Research (ESR) (external link) produces and maintains data on infectious diseases.

How is the data prepared and used?

This data is cleaned, aggregated and analysed to produce statistics and evidence which is then used by key stakeholders (eg, Ministry of Health, District Health Boards, other Government agencies, national and international researchers, the corporate sector, clinicians and the World Health Organization) to inform policies and decisions regarding current and future health services, for example:

policy interventions
funding decisions
epidemiological research
programme evaluations.

Why do we collect data?

The Ministry of Health collects data to:

monitor the health of New Zealanders
manage subsidies and services
inform funding and resource allocation
determine and evaluate health services
inform the development of health policies and interventions
assist clinical decisions about patient care
meet legislative requirements:
meet international commitments, including:
- International Health Regulations 2005 (external link) (eg, death data is sent to the World Health Organization annually for international comparisons of mortality).

How is the data gathered?

Data is gathered through a variety of methods. The majority of the data the Ministry of Health holds is collected through established routine administrative systems (eg, hospital events and prescriptions). These are known as the ‘National Collections’.

In addition to data from routine sources, the Ministry of Health also actively gathers data through population-based health surveys.

Health data cycle

The data generation, production and use process is illustrated in the diagram. — **The data generation, production and use process is illustrated in this diagram.**

Contact and data enquiries

Contact

Health and Disability Intelligence
Health and Disability Systems Strategy
Ministry of Health
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6145
(04) 496 2000

Data enquiries

Email data-enquiries@health.govt.nz to inquire about statistics, find out what other statistics are available and request customised data.

Survey enquiries

Email hdi@health.govt.nz for data enquiries about the national health surveys.

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