NZ health IT companies “extremely innovative” says Clanwilliam CEO

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Picture: Clanwilliam CEO Howard Beggs

eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

One third of Clanwilliam Group’s operations are now based in New Zealand and Australia and the group’s chief executive sees this area of the business growing over coming years.

The Dublin-based group has bought New Zealand health IT companies Konnect NET, HealthLink and Toniq and Australian company Medical Business Systems over the past two years as it invests heavily in the Australasian market.

CEO Howard Beggs says when the company was looking to expand globally from its Ireland base, it looked at healthcare technology ecosystems around the world and found New Zealand’s and Australia’s were similar to that of the UK.

Things like disease classification coding are exactly the same, and the fact both countries are also English speaking makes them a good fit, he says.

Beggs says New Zealand is “extremely innovative and extremely progressive” for a relatively small country.

“There’s a large number of innovative companies with products that really impact patients’ lives, it’s very very impressive and one of the big attractions for us,” he says.

“What’s also quite unique and ahead of other countries is the focus from the leadership in New Zealand from the Minister of Health and Ministry. The focus on using technology to enhance patient care and deliver benefits is particularly ahead of the curve in my view.”

Clanwilliam Group emerged as a three-man start-up in Ireland in the mid-1990s.

“We have done the long journey of building our software, breaking into the market in Ireland and expanding further afield, so we are not a financial company, we are a family of autonomously run brands and companies operating in seven countries with 1,500 staff,” says Beggs.

The group now has around 160 staff in New Zealand and he sees the group’s operations in this country as growing.

“We will continue to invest in the New Zealand technology space in the years to come,” he says.

Howard Beggs spoke to eHealthNews.nz on a recent visit to New Zealand to talk to local health IT company founders and entrepreneurs.

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