Ministry defines minimum requirements for digital health services

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

The Ministry of Health has published a set of minimum requirements for digital, data and technology services that health organisations are expected to meet.

The Ministry says the requirements have been developed to encourage health organisations to ensure the digital services they use are safe, secure, integrated, reliable and provide appropriate access to data and information.

They specify that cloud delivery should be considered for all digital services in preference to locally hosted and configured technology and that application programming interfaces should be used where possible to support integration with and by others.

Organisations must govern the data they hold in line with data protection and use, privacy, social license and Māori data sovereignty guidelines.

Also, data must be available for sharing, transfer and access with appropriate authorisation to other digital services, organisations and stakeholders, including the consumer.

MoH deputy director-general data and digital Shayne Hunter says many health agencies use a range of technology from many different suppliers.

“The requirements strongly signal a move to a more open approach where digital services are cloud based, continually evolve and share data with other services – rather than working in isolation, or only working within an organisation,” he says.

Hunter says an open approach is the general trend in many government-related sectors and this encourages collaboration, reduces duplication and helps maximise existing resources.  

Darren Douglass, MoH group manager digital strategy and investment, says the requirements will be used in existing processes such as business case review and approvals for procurement activity and for the Ministry’s own project implementation activity. 

“We will use existing mechanisms to raise the position of the sector across the board. Where we find gaps or behaviours we can’t address through existing levers, we will consider how to respond on a case by case basis,” he says. 

Douglass says there is no specific budget attached to meet the requirements as they are things the sector would reasonably be expected to be doing already and will be met through investing and contracting differently.

"If you lock into your procurement process to meet these requirements and if you understand that when the investment case goes through the Ministry approval process, they will be specifically looking for these requirements to be met, you will encourage the right behaviours from the start,” he says. 

“Those proposing lower cost solutions that don’t meet these requirements shouldn’t be getting through the procurement process.” 

Douglass says while many vendors in the marketplace are already meeting or working to meet the requirements, there are “some gaps around interoperability and access to data that we know isn’t what people would expect."

NZ Health IT chief executive Scott Arrol says the industry body provided input into the development of the requirements.

“The notice addresses a number of concerns that NZHIT members have previously raised in relation to inconsistencies across the country and the need for increased direction when it comes to the application of standards, data governance, security, replication, cloud delivery, interoperability and other related areas,” he tells eHealthNews.nz.

Arrol adds that the funders of digital health solutions should only contract with those who demonstrate they have made the commitment to these requirements.

“For all of this to be sustainable and support the ongoing delivery of healthcare services, it is important for the sector to recognise the commitment that goes into achieving the level of required standards and minimum requirements for digital, data and technology services,” he says. 

If you would like to provide feedback on this news story please contact the editor Rebecca McBeth.

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