An interim national health plan in New Zealand highlights the contribution of digital tools in allowing health systems to deliver more care in families and communities.
Te Whatu Ora – New Zealand Ministry of Health and Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority jointly developed the Te Pae New Zealand 2022 The Tata Interim Health Plan, which outlines a set of tasks to build a “united, affordable and sustainable” health system.
Health service delivery systems are “an important part of the transition to a single health system”.
What is this about
One of the six priority actions of the interim Te Pae Tata is “Development of greater use of digital
The New Zealand government is committed to “increasing opportunities” for families and communities to use digital tools for people to access and use their health information, Make appointments, receive phone and video consultations, and use devices to monitor their health at home. These tools include PCs, smartphones, patient portals, and digital clinical devices for remote health monitoring.
“Access to health information, self and remote monitoring enables people, families and communities to better manage their health and wellbeing,” it explained in the plan
The plan also points to the need for digital tools to support the health workforce. “Well-designed information systems can relieve our staff the [administrative] burden of providing the right information at the right time and place, and capturing information updates with ease,” it said.
To increase the use of digital tools, the following digital health actions have been identified:
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Implementing Hira, a user-friendly comprehensive national e-health Documented, achieved agreed levels, ensured that the expected return on investment was achieved, and took all practicable steps to ensure that project milestones were met;
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Expanding and adapting to develop population health digital services to support COVID-19 -19 responses to serve other key population health priorities;
Improve the entire hospital network and primary, community and secondary care facilities; and
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Improve digital access to primary care, As an option to improve access and choice, include virtual off-hours and telehealth, with a focus on rural communities.
Develop and implement actions to achieve alignment of national Te Whatu Ora data and digital capabilities and solutions performance, including simplifying the repetitive legacy systems inherited from DHB and shared services organizations to improve internal operability and reduce operational costs;
To successfully leverage digital services, the government plans to “invest in the infrastructure needed to support automation in healthcare, bringing systems and services online to meet demand and public expectations.” Investments will also flow into providing more Digital health options to improve efficiency and address operational and security risks.
major trend
in the New Zealand government to merge 20 former district health boards into two public health services – After Te Whatu Ora and Te Aka Whai Ora, an interim national health plan was launched.
“We have consolidated the public health system and now we have plans for national service coverage and a nationally consistent operating policy” Health Minister Andrew Little spoke about the release of the Te Pae Tata interim plan.
In Budget 2022, the government invested NZ$11.1 billion ($6.5 billion) in health is the largest investment to date and includes more than NZ$600 million (US$400 million) in data and digital infrastructure and capacity for the health system.
