nHIP journey captures attention in 2019

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Before kicking off another year of eHealthNews.nz, we are taking a look back at the stories that captured the most attention in 2019.

An announcement that the Ministry of Health was going to Cabinet to get approval to develop a detailed business case for a national Health Information Platform was the best read story of the year and articles charting the platform’s development continued to gain interest.

Deputy director data and digital Shayne Hunter discussed the initiative at the Emerging Tech in Health conference in Christchurch last May, saying the Ministry had moved away from the idea of building a single Electronic Health Record, towards developing a national Health Information Platform that will enable data about a single patient to be shared.

The platform is described as having the “ability to assemble a virtual electronic record on an ‘as required’ basis from multiple trusted sources, and provide access to data and services”.

nHIP appears again on the list in the sixth spot when Health Minister David Clark confirmed that Cabinet was considering the proposal  and then in the eighth spot when eHN reported that approval was given for the detailed business case to be developed .

The DBC is now expected to be back before Cabinet in February 2020, so watch this space.

The story that Hunter had got the job leading the new Data and Digital directorate at the Ministry was the second most read story of the year. The role was created in a Ministry restructure announced in October 2018 and Hunter was previously the chief information officer for 3DHB – Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa. 

The appointment of a chief clinical information officer at 3DHB was another well-read story in 2019 with Steve Earnshaw taking up the role of CCIO to provide clinical input and oversight to ICT projects at the DHBs.

A stoush between two GP practice management systems providers is fourth on the list with a story about Medtech taking the developers of Indici to court . Medtech accused Valentia Technologies and three other defendants of conspiring to copy its software and use its confidential information.

A report on how mobile devices are releasing clinical time at Counties Manukau Health was of real interest to readers as the DHB has been able to quantify time saved for clinicians following the roll-out of more than 500 Windows 10 tablet devices.

A time-and-motion study of more than 500 hours pre- and post-roll-out of the devices showed clinicians were able to save an average of 30 minutes per shift after they were introduced.

eHN readers’ interest in Shayne Hunter continued with his column, Data & Digital Futures: MoH View , appearing seventh on the most-read list. In it, he discusses his first six months in the DDG role including the Health and Disability Review, nHIP and investment approaches, as well as data governance and ongoing work to produce a Health Data Strategy.

Look out for more on the data theme in the next instalment of this quarterly column from the MoH’s Data and Digital team, which will be authored by Simon Ross, manager data governance.

Another DHB innovation to help clinicians appears ninth on the most-read list with news that Waitematā was deploying an inhouse developed electronic clinical notes solution across all inpatient beds at the DHB.

As of August 2019, eProgress Notes was in use on 400 beds and between 3000–4000 clinical notes were being written on the system every day.

The area of eMental Health provided plenty of stories in 2019 and one about a new online platform for health and wellbeing rounds out our top 10 list for the year.

Clearhead uses an artificial intelligence chatbot to screen users for mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. It recommends mental health resources, allows users to search for and book professional help and includes a Wellbeing Portal to monitor their progress and goals.

The government has committed more than $20m for eMental health services over the next four years, so stay tuned to see how that funding is spent.

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

Read more news:

Movers & Shakers: Spring 2019

Christchurch Hospital uses Cortex for clinical notes

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