The Office of the Privacy Commissioner recently consulted on a number of proposed amendments to the Health Information Privacy Code including: changes to the definition of serious harm and the removal of the word "imminent" to ensure consistency with anticipated Privacy Act changes; amendments to exclusions relating to unique identifiers (intended to allow Medic Alert to use NHI numbers, and to allow health providers to use common practitioner numbers currently being developed as part of the Ministry of Health's Health Practitioner Index project); and the addition of a regulatory regime for information derived from newborn Guthrie tests. The proposed regime includes specific restrictions on the use and disclosure of the information and sets out specific permitted uses of the information which include: assisting the police with unidentifiable deceased or missing persons; assisting with coronial inquiries; and assisting with family related testing in limited circumstances. Further information is available here.