Digital health solutions win Hi Tech awards

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eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Digital health was a big winner at the 2020 Hi-Tech Awards with Emergency Q and Precision Driven Health scooping three awards between them.

DHB ICT staff have also been recognised as finalists in this years CIO Awards.

Emergency Q, a Kaupapa Maori software company that built a digital platform to reduce overcrowding in hospital Emergency Departments, won The Callaghan Innovation Maori Company of the Year Award and the Kiwibank Most Innovative Hi-Tech Service Award.

Precision Driven Health won the Visa Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good award for the partnership’s freely accessible surgical risk calculator, nzRISK. 

Emergency Q chief executive Morris Pita says that since 2017, more than 40,000 patients have used the platform to leave ED a few minutes after arrival and receive treatment in primary care for primary care problems.

“These two awards are a fantastic reflection of the  sustained hard work and innovation of our team whose daily focus is to identify ways to help whanau in need find the primary care services they require in a way that frees up our busy hospital ED nurses and doctors to focus on patients with higher levels of acuity,” he says. 
 
The company was contracted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment this year to add Covid-19 specific screens to its free patient app.  

These new screens direct people to Covid-19 testing centres, support services such as foodbanks and mental health services.

Precision Driven Health’s nzRISK tool is one of the first applications of machine learning in health in New Zealand and delivers multi-level impacts, including improved surgical outcomes through more accurate risk assessment and immediate cost savings for hospitals. 
 
PDH chief executive Kevin Ross says the award comes at a time when the world is seeing the value of data in health, and in good data science. 

“The nzRISK project is one of our favourites because it demonstrates true collaboration across healthcare, industry and academia, with major contributions from Auckland District Health Board and Orion Health,” Ross says.

The Hi Tech Awards judges commented that PDH is a great example of a public-private partnership created to develop freely available, innovative solutions to improve public health outcomes in New Zealand.  

The finalists of the 2020 CIO Awards have been announced with Counties Manukau Health a finalist for the Best ICT Team Culture. 

The award, "recognises outstanding team culture within an organisation's ICT team where fostering team culture, retaining and nurturing a diverse IT staff has created a competitive advantage for the entire organisation". 

Stella Ward, chief digital officer at Canterbury and West Coast DHBs is also a finalist for CIO of the year. Ward recently resigned from her role at the DHBs amongst an exodus of senior executives from the organisation.

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

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My View: We need to talk about our health data
App to reduce ED congestion wins two innovation awards

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