Photo: skynesher/Getty Images
National systems for electronic health records, cancer information, and radiology information are among the New Zealand Ministry of Health's priority investments over the next three years.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
The MOH has announced its first Health Digital Investment Plan (HDIP), a 10-year roadmap to modernise healthcare with investments in technologies. It outlines how it would build a "modern, unified and resilient digital health system" that can meet the projected growth in demand and ensure access to healthcare services for all New Zealanders.
According to Health Minister Simeon Brown, the plan has five core objectives: improve outcomes for patients and families, support clinicians, stabilise critical infrastructure, build foundations for innovation, and enable data-driven decision-making.
The following focus areas have been identified under the plan: digitally enabled models of care; intelligence and insights; clinical and operational experience; people and whānau experience; corporate experience; technology (digital infrastructure, services, and security); and data and interoperability.
In no particular order, below are the MOH's ten priority investments and respective expected solutions to be delivered in the first three years of the HDIP:
- Core clinicals (EMR): stabilised existing core clinical solutions and national EMR.
- Human Capital Management (HCM): stabilised current payroll solutions; national HCM solution (including rostering); national payroll solution; and national learning management solution.
- Virtually enabled care: remote patient monitoring capabilities; national virtual hospital platform; and advanced virtual hospital capabilities (such as virtual ICU).
- Diagnostics (radiology): national radiologist flight deck; national image infrastructure; single national radiology and pathology results repository; and national radiology information system.
- Lifecycle gap – digital infrastructure and cybersecurity: stable and secure technology
- Priority specialised solutions (for cancer, obstetrics, etc.): linear accelerator (LINAC) upgraded; cancer visibility and forecasting; stabilise existing priority specialist services solutions; national cancer patient tracking solution; new solutions for 2-3 high-priority specialist services; and national cancer information system.
- Cloud modernisation: stabilised at-risk technology hosting; migrated at-risk public cloud platforms; and modernised public cloud platforms.
- Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): stabilised financial system and national ERP solution.
- Population health: expanded prevention platforms (such as immunisation and screening); national screening register; national surveillance platform; and national campaign solution.
- Primary care: enablement of 24/7 digital access to providers and urgent care programme; integrated systems support and enable proactive and personalised engagement and intervention; and modern primary and community solutions.
Nine more investments that might progress in the near term include:
- Core care administration: stabilised referrals, demographics, activity, and waitlist capabilities; national referral platform; and national booking and scheduling platform.
- Integration and interoperability: stabilised integration solutions, modern interoperability tools (including standards); and national API resources and reusable data services.
- Mental health and addiction: stabilised and standardised mental health data, and digital mental health and addiction solution.
- Operational: national hospital transport solution, hospital patient flow solution; and nationwide all-of-sector Integrated Operations Centre capability.
- Aged care and residential: aged care national dataset; modern aged care and residential solution(s); and assessment tool integration with health record.
- Analytics and data science: national health data platform, and predictive and prescriptive data analytics tools.
- Health record and journey: personalised health campaigns; people and whānau choice and control capability, including delegated access; and people & whānau access and contribution to shared care records (waitlist, appointments management, and two-way engagement).
- Procurement and supply chain: consolidated and standardised existing platform; nationally consistent processes; national inventory management capability; and AI-enabled predictive asset management and maintenance.
- Data services: consistent national data management standards and processes, and an independent data layer across whole-of-sector (including primary health data access).
Activities will be carried out in three phases: stabilising critical systems, modernising platforms, and enabling new healthcare models, with each phase setting up the next.
Coordinating these investments is a newly established Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health, a collaboration between Health New Zealand and delivery partners and a fresh approach for Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand. It will undertake the design, planning, and development of business cases and provide capability in innovation, including AI and digital delivery.
"Starting immediately, business cases will be produced and submitted for cabinet approval and funding," Te Whatu Ora said in a separate announcement.
WHY IT MATTERS
Minister Brown mentioned that the country's health system is being held back by "outdated, disconnected technology." About 6,000 digital systems underpin the New Zealand health system – about one for every 15 staff member, said the minister – many of which are at or nearing their end-of-life and have been accumulating debts.
"Right now, 65% of hospitals still use paper-based notes, and critical information doesn't flow between GPs and hospitals in many parts of the country," Minister Brown added.
For Minister Brown, a modern digital healthcare looks like "getting your cancer diagnosis and having your entire treatment journey coordinated through connected systems – no repeated tests, no lost referrals, no wondering what happens next.
THE LARGER CONTEXT
The HDIP is part of a 10-year health investment roadmap, with the other plan – the first Health Infrastructure Plan – already released early this year. Both highlight priority investment areas across physical and digital infrastructure. Informed by the National Clinical Service and Campus Plan, both plans emphasise investments that shift care closer to home and provide more convenient, timely access to quality care.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand government has been implementing initiatives through two new programmes. HealthX, set up in September and aiming to accelerate digital and AI innovation, is currently deploying AI scribes to 1,000 emergency clinicians, with plans to introduce remote patient monitoring capability and augment X-ray processes in the coming months. It reportedly plans to roll out one initiative each month for the next six months to frontline health staff. The Accelerate programme, meanwhile, is digitising patient notes and upgrading WiFi and device availability in hospitals.
