Enrolment Information

Understanding the terminology ...

PHO - the Primary Health Organisation. We are a member of the Nelson Bays Primary Health Organisation, based in Nelson. The PHO manages the public funding side of General Practice on behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Health. www.nbph.org.nz

Registered patient - a patient who is part of our regular patient group whose medical records are held by us and to whom we send reminders when immunisations fall due or monitoring procedures need to be completed (eg cervical smears, mammograms, PSA or INR blood tests). You can be a registered patient without being an enrolled patient.

Enrolled patient – A registered patient who has completed a valid PHO enrolment form and meets the criteria to be eligible for Government funding through the PHO. If the patient does not meet the criteria for Government funding, they can remain a registered patient but will not receive Government funding towards their health costs.

Funded patient – a patient whose completed enrolment form has been submitted and accepted by the PHO and whose funding has been received by Harley Street Medical. The time delay between enrolling and being funded depends on where we are at in the PHO funding cycle.

Casual patient – a patient who visits the Practice for medical care on a one off or short-term basis (eg someone on holiday in Nelson). We do not enrol casual patients and hence do not get PHO funding for them and we do not recall them for routine screening or monitoring purposes.

The principals of enrolment...

Patient enrolment is crucial to the governments Primary Health Care Strategy. Ensuring that patients obtain their health care from one general practice will undoubtedly help make their care more efficient and effective. It also reduces the cost to the patient. Continuity of care results in better health. We recommend and encourage all our eligible patients to enrol.

Some key points about enrolment...

  • you can only be enrolled with one general practice. If you choose to enrol with another general practice, you are automatically no longer enrolled with the previous practice.
  • the fact that you are enrolled with one general practice does not restrict you from consulting another doctor somewhere else, but you will be a casual (unfunded) patient at that practice unless you choose to enrol there.
  • if you have not been seen at Harley Street for 3 years, you will be asked to sign a new enrolment form which indicates that you wish to remain enrolled with us. This will ensure the continuation of your funding.

 

Eligibility for government funding for your health care

You are usually eligible if you are

  • A NZ citizen (including those citizens who live in the Cook Islands, Tokelau or Niue)
  • have NZ residency
  • a foreign worker with work permit(s) for two years or more
  • a refugee with proof of status
  • a child 18 years or under who is under the legal guardianship of an eligible person

For more information about eligibility for publicly funded Health and Disability Services in NZ click www.moh.govt.nz/eligibility

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