Primary Health Insights
Primary Health Insights (PHI), is a storage and analytics platform, which hosts the de-identified health data of most Primary Health Networks (PHNs) across Australia. PHI brings together industry leading data security, rigorous data governance and privacy, advanced analytics, and primary health informatics experts from PHNs to improve population health outcomes for all Australians.
PHI enables us to use reporting and analysis of de-identified primary care data to improve decision-making for general practice, commissioned healthcare service providers and PHNs. The use of PHI enables us to make an important contribution to the delivery of the Australian Government’s 10-year Primary Care Plan.
Why are we choosing to use PHI?
- PHI represents an advanced approach to securing Australia’s primary healthcare data and protecting the privacy of individuals.
- PHI provides access to a range of analytical and reporting tools which can be used to enhance reporting of data and insights to general practices.
- PHI brings together a community of primary health informatics experts to improve population health outcomes for all Australians.
What data will be stored on PHI?
Population Health Datasets provided by participating general practices who use agreed data extraction tools. In future, the Primary Mental Healthcare Minimum Dataset is also intended to be stored on PHI. This dataset has been collected by our referrers and providers delivering mental health and suicide prevention services.
Data Security
PHI is built with best-in-class data security and cyber protection. It utilises Microsoft Azure data platform which is accredited to ISO 27001 compliance and has met the requirements of the Australian Government for secure storage of both ‘sensitive’ and ‘protected’ information through the Information Security Registered Assessors Program. Our Data Governance Framework and supporting policies and procedures will also support the safety and security of this data.
Services available on PHI
The Nepean Blue Mountains (NBMPHN) Portal – Secure File Transfer and Storage Solution
For practices that wish to participate in PIP QI and share a compliant data extract file (JSON) from their clinical information system, a secure portal solution, NBMPHN Portal, will shortly be made available via our Primary Health Insights platform.
Practices will be required to sign a Data Sharing Agreement (DSA) to share data using this solution and agree to the terms of the NBMPHN Portal End User Licence Agreement (EULA). Practices who already share JSON files for PIP QI purposes will be contacted throughout February to enter into a new DSA.
If this is not the current method in which you share data, but you wish to implement this method, contact your Practice Support Officer on to establish a new data sharing arrangement.
For practices that have signed a DSA to share data using the upload solution via NBMPHN Portal, please find the relevant documents below:
To be eligible for a payment, your practice needs to register for PIP QI, then complete a successful data extraction and upload of the PIP Eligible Data Set before the end date of the data submission period for the PIP quarter in which the practice registered. Note that participation in the incentive must be approved prior to the data extraction: successful extractions that occur prior to successful PIP QI registration will be considered ineligible.
