National Non-Admitted Patient Collection

Information includes event-based purchase units that relate to medical and surgical outpatient events and emergency department events.

On this page

About the National Non-Admitted Patient Collection (NNPAC)

This includes information on the type of service provided and the health specialty involved.

NNPAC allows the Ministry of Health and Health NZ to:

  • track outpatient activity
  • make sure districts are appropriately remunerated for the services they provide.

Scope

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NNPAC provides national consistent data on non-admitted patient activity — outpatient and emergency department.

Its primary use is for the calculation of Inter District Flows (IDFs). It may also help provide information to measure health outcomes and inform decisions on funding allocations and policy.

Transaction records containing details of the non-admitted patient event including:

  • date
  • facility
  • type of service.

All records must have a valid National Health Index (NHI) number. Data is submitted electronically by Health NZ districts in an agreed format.

Using the collection

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NNPAC was implemented on 1 July 2006 and contains data from that date.

Data is loaded weekly and summarised monthly at the type of service, purchase unit, level. A yearly snapshot of data is taken and used for the IDF process.

Data is provided by Health NZ districts in an agreed electronic file format. It must be sent at least once a month.

We receive and process electronic files every day.

The NBRS database is only accessed by authorised Health NZ staff for the purposes of:

  • maintenance
  • data quality
  • audit
  • analytics.

Authorised members of the Ministry of Health and Health NZ have access to the collection for analytical purposes, using Business Objects and the secure Health Information Network. Business Objects contains a subset of the data described in the data dictionary.

Business Objects is being decommissioned.

National Non-Admitted Patient Collection data mart data dictionary — Data dictionaries

We are required to make sure that the release of information meets the conditions of any legislation related to the privacy of health information. In particular the:

  • Official Information Act 1982
  • Privacy Act 2020
  • Health Information Privacy Code 2020.

Information available to the general public is of a statistical and non-identifiable nature. A data release policy covers approval where appropriate from a health ethics committee.

Monthly standard reports for Health NZ districts are available in the Health Information Network.

Customised datasets or summary reports are available on request. These can be electronic or on paper.

Our team can help to define the specifications for a request and are familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the data.

We also offer a peer review service to make sure Health NZ data is reported appropriately when published by other organisations.

There may be charges associated with data extracts.

Contact

For more information about this collection or to ask for specific datasets or reports email data-enquiries@health.govt.nz