FAQs

Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) are the local structures for delivering and co-coordinating primary health care services. PHOs bring together GPs, nurses and other health professionals (such as Māori health workers, health promotion workers, dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists and midwives) in the community to serve the needs of their enrolled populations. Most GPs belong to a PHO. PHOs vary widely in size and structure and are not-for-profit. The first PHOs were established in July 2002 and there are now 81 PHOs around the country. The old District Health Boards (DHBs) worked with local communities and provider organisations to establish PHOs in their regions. PHOs get a set amount of funding from the government to subsidise a range of health services. The funding is based on the numbers and characteristics (e.g., age, sex, and ethnicity) of people enrolled with them. That funding pays for: · Providing care and treatment when people are ill · Helping people stay healthy · Reaching out to those groups in their community who have poor health or who are missing out on primary health care. All PHOs receive additional funding for Health Promotion, and are able to access Services to Improve Access funding to provide new services or improved access to reduce health inequalities among high-need groups that are known to have the worst health status. Very Low Cost Access payment for PHOs and practices that charge very low fees to patients was introduced on 1 October 2006. The Very Low Cost Access payment was introduced as a way to support, encourage, and reward PHOs and their practices that, in order to deliver on very low cost access to primary health care and reduce health inequalities, have forgone revenue from patient fees.