NHI numbers required with every lab test request

(Aotea News, November 2010)

Please supply a patient’s National Health Index (NHI) number with every lab test request.

This is especially important for cervical smear samples as NHI numbers are mandatory and a smear taker’s legal responsibility when reporting results to the National Cervical Screening Programme.

Missing NHI numbers mean that our lab staff must phone medical practices to track down the numbers. This can be time consuming as we often receive several requests each day with missing NHI numbers.