CIO Interview: Being the CIO of the smallest DHB in the country

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Picture: West Coast DHB CIO Miles Rope

Guest column by Miles Roper, West Coast DHB CIO

West Coast District Health Board has made significant advances in the digital space, despite being the smallest DHB with the most dispersed population.

Being the CIO of the smallest DHB in the country, with the most dispersed population, creates some unique challenges and opportunities. I’m incredibly proud of what our team has achieved over the past seven years both locally and regionally.

From introducing the regional Radiology Information Systems and PACS in 2011 and, more recently, the regional clinical record, eReferrals, eOrders and sign off, a regional view of primary care information and electronic nursing observations, we have made significant advances in the digital space at West Coast DHB.

What inspires me is how well we work together as a region in moving towards integrated clinical systems and processes and leveraging the capabilities this brings across the region.

Future plans

While we excel in this area, there is always room for further growth in much of the DHB’s infrastructure and backend systems.

It is my hope that in the coming year we can work to consolidate these systems and free up valuable technical expertise to do more – as we all know, in health there is always more demand than the capacity available to meet it.

Single integrated patient record

I’m looking forward to further developments on the West Coast that will bring a more integrated healthcare record for patients in the region, driven by our clinical team’s desire to work more collaboratively and in a more integrated way throughout the Coast.

Currently there are four general practices across the West Coast and five different patient management systems. Our plan over the next 12 months is to invest in new technology to have a single record that integrates into the patient’s South Island regional record.

For the Coast, it’s one of the most important investments we’ll make over the next 10 years.

Public cloud is also on our radar and we’ll be working closely with our neighbours at Canterbury DHB to see how we can leverage off their skills in this area.

Focus on telehealth

Our other big focus is the deployment of a new technology platform, Vidyo, to enable telehealth anywhere for anyone on any device.

The West Coast has always been a leader in telehealth, and this will be yet another quantum leap in making telehealth available to our various workforces, where cost is no longer a significant barrier.  

We’ve also invested in a cost-effective mobile data platform, which allows us to take this technology directly into a patient’s home. There has been strong interest from our district nursing teams to do this and it’s something we can’t wait to support them with in 2020.

Providing the best care

As a CIO of a small DHB that encompasses both hospital-based and primary care, my role is incredibly varied and interesting.

A large part of my time is acting as a technology facilitator and working with teams across the business in how we can support them and solve their issues. Ultimately, it’s all about how we can provide the best care for our community.

Miles Roper is the CIO of West Coast DHB.

If you want to contact eHealthNews.nz regarding this View, please email the editor Rebecca McBeth.

Read more CIO Interviews:

Warwick Hutchins: An agile approach to innovation

Stuart Bloomfield: What does it mean to be a change-fit organisation?

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