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Health Accelerator is preparing to expand its rule-based digital assistants to more general practice systems, as these robots gain traction alongside AI scribes to further bring efficiencies in clinical processes.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
A joint venture between four of New Zealand's largest primary care groups – Pegasus, Pinnacle, ProCare, and Tū Ora Compass Health – Health Accelerator has been developing robotic process automation-based (RPA) digital assistants that perform structured, repetitive clinical and administrative tasks on practice management systems (PMS).
In an interview with Healthcare IT News, chief executive Paul Roseman explained that these robots, which act like "virtual employees," follow predefined steps rather than learning like AI.
Designed to work alongside clinicians, they keep a clear record of every task, which practices can monitor at any time.
"The assistants can process information while a clinician is looking at the same record, without changing or overwriting anything. They follow the same access rules as staff, so they fit into the system just like another team member," Roseman said.
Every workflow that each robot performs, though unsupervised, is approved by a clinical governance committee to ensure processes are clinically safe and standardised.
"In a rare instance when something doesn't go as planned, we step in and fix it — that's how we keep things safe and under control," Roseman said.
"It's also how we continue to iterate and improve our robots."
Currently, Health Accelerator offers RPA robots for cardiovascular risk assessments (CVDRA), Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) claims reconciliation, specialist referral acknowledgement (SRA) message filing, and normal FIT (faecal immunochemical test) screening result filing.
The virtual robots have so far been used by GPs using the Indici PMS. Health Accelerator disclosed in a media release that it is "actively working" with another PMS provider, Medtech Global, to develop similar robots for its systems.
WHY IT MATTERS
"Ultimately, these tools free up time for clinicians, improve screening coverage, and unlock revenue that supports patient care," said Roseman.
The organisation claims estimated time savings per task, including 5.67 minutes per CVDRA file, 1 minute per SRA file, and 3 minutes per FIT screening file.
Also, its ACC assistant reportedly helped secure up to NZ$180,000 in paid claims that busy GP teams would otherwise miss. It scans unclaimed ACC visits and automatically submits valid claims.
When asked how they mitigate the risk of blind spots and errors, Roseman explained: "For clinical workflows, such as cardiovascular risk assessments or screening, the assistant checks that all required information is there. If something is missing, the task is flagged for human review rather than completed."
Roseman emphasised that their philosophy is focused on avoiding worsening inequalities. "Automation done safely and transparently is a win for practices and the communities they serve."
Digital assistants for cervical screening result management, special authority response, and normal BreastScreen Aotearoa mammogram result filing are underway, with more robots in the pipeline.
THE LARGER TREND
Alongside software robots, Health Accelerator is also pushing the integration of AI scribes into GP workflows. Recently, it partnered with Australian company Heidi to offer exclusive pricing options for its AI scribe, one of the four currently endorsed by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand for use in clinical settings. Roseman previously shared with this publication "encouraging" uptake of the AI scribes among GP networks, corporate groups, and community-based clinics.
