Digitising Healthcare to Prioritise Patients
Health Minister Simeon Brown says New Zealanders are set to benefit from faster and more coordinated care through a 10-year plan aimed at bringing the country’s health system into the digital era. He says patients will no longer need to repeatedly provide their medical history at every appointment.
Mr Brown says the current health system is constrained by outdated and disconnected technology. He says 65 per cent of hospitals still rely on paper-based notes, and in many regions essential information does not move between general practitioners and hospitals. According to him, this results in patients having to repeat their information multiple times while clinicians spend time on paperwork instead of providing care.
He says Health New Zealand operates more than 6000 digital systems, equating to one system for every 15 staff members. He says this reflects years of underinvestment and temporary solutions rather than long-term planning.
Mr Brown says the Government is releasing New Zealand’s first Health Digital Investment Plan, which outlines a 10-year roadmap to modernise healthcare through technologies that will benefit patients immediately.
Plan Objectives and Key Investments
The plan sets out five main objectives that focus on improving outcomes for patients and families, supporting clinicians, stabilising critical infrastructure, creating foundations for innovation, and enabling data-driven decision-making.
As part of the plan, investments will support the introduction of a single Electronic Medical Record system across the health sector. This system is intended to allow secure and seamless sharing of medical information between general practitioners, specialists, and hospitals. Additional funding will support remote patient monitoring to enable earlier discharge, a national radiology system to manage urgent cases, and enhanced cybersecurity to protect patient data.
Mr Brown says the plan envisions scenarios such as a patient receiving a cancer diagnosis and having their full treatment pathway coordinated through connected systems, avoiding repeated tests, lost referrals, and uncertainty around next steps.
Phased Delivery and Implementation
The 10-year plan will be implemented in three phases. These will focus on stabilising essential systems, modernising platforms, and introducing innovative healthcare models that place patients at the centre. Each phase will build on the previous one, and Mr Brown says Health New Zealand is already taking steps that the public will begin to notice in the coming years.
The Government is also creating the Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health. This initiative involves collaboration between Health New Zealand and delivery partners and draws together global innovation capability, artificial intelligence expertise, and advanced process engineering to guide major investments.
Mr Brown says this approach differs from past efforts, noting that previous large-scale programmes have not succeeded when governments attempted to undertake them independently.
Ongoing Digital Initiatives
He says progress is already underway through the Accelerate programme, which is digitising paper-based patient notes in hospitals and upgrading Wi-Fi and device access for clinicians. Health New Zealand has also launched HealthX to support innovation and the application of artificial intelligence.
Sponsored by the Chief Executive, HealthX will introduce one innovation initiative each month to deliver digital tools to frontline services. These will include AI scribes in emergency departments to reduce time spent on documentation, remote patient monitoring for safe recovery at home, and augmented x-ray processes to improve diagnosis speed.
Mr Brown says the Government aims to strengthen essential services while developing future-focused systems so that all patients can receive timely and quality care. He says improved digital investment will support shorter wait times, safer services, and a health system that meets the needs of all New Zealanders.