Objective: To determine how 'population health' has been understood in practice and policy and has influenced health system restructuring in New Zealand since 2000.
Methods: Interviews in 2007-2008 with managers, clinicians, government policy advisors and academics were undertaken to explore the relationships between population health, determinants of health, and health system restructuring. This was augmented by a review of major government health policies from 2009 to 2013 to establish which notions of population health were reflected.