A data system created to serve as a single longitudinal record of demographic information about children in New Zealand is associated with greater equity in primary health care for children.
This relationship was recently investigated paper published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
FINDINGS
The National Child Health Information Platform tracks the milestones achieved by every child enrolled in Northland, Waitematā and Auckland from birth to age six.
Analyzing milestone data, the study found that between 2018 and 2021, there was a notable increase in GP enrollments of children in communities covered by NCHIP, compared to non-NCHIP areas.
It also found less decline in child immunization coverage over eight months during the recent pandemic in NCHIP-tracked areas.
These findings indicate population-level benefits, especially in health care equity, from systems that integrate a child’s milestone information into health care, such as the NCHIP, according to the researchers.
THE GREATER CONTEXT
In New Zealand, children from birth to age six are eligible for 30 milestone child health checks, including metabolic screening and immunization, to ensure their healthy development.
Previously, tracking these milestone checks was a challenge because data sharing between providers was primarily relationship-based, while organizations maintained health check data independently.
In 2020, the then district health boards in New Zealand’s northern regions partnered with Orion Health to implement the NCHIP. The cloud-based system now provides a single view of the milestones achieved through the relationships between children and caregivers. Newborn children in the country are also automatically enrolled in NCHIP through local birth registration.