CiLN Advisory Panel Update: August 2022

NEWS – CiLN Advisory Panel Member Emily Gill

Health and wellbeing have been at the forefront of international news since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and this will continue throughout this winter. No doubt, your personal and clinical lives have been impacted by Covid-19 and/or Influenza, which has brought into focus the balance between our self and whānau-care with clinical work demands. We read about the health workforce crisis (aka “under pressure” – Hon Andrew Little) that we experience daily: juggling whānau illness, covering staff shortages at work, and emerging (many of us) from our own post-illness fog and fatigue.

Through this reality, diving into the CiLN-related discussions has been a source of motivation and fulfilling distraction for me. As a near full-time time clinician, albeit with 0.1 FTE of non-teaching academic time, jumping onto www.forum.hinz.org.nz is both informative and engaging. Participating in the Advisory Panel enables connection to many passionate clinicians, with a collective purpose. Such advocacy connections are a good professional antidote to the overwhelming demands we currently face. Indeed, at a recent GP conference, Dame Sue Bagshaw suggested approaches to improving our wellbeing include “advocacy, be clear on your motivation, get political, be connected to your patients and community” while also concluding “we need a new model”!

CiLN offers both tools for improving our own well-being and contributing to new models of care, assuming readers of this message are, by definition, interested in and motivated by clinical informatics. Recent examples for me include:

Professional advocacy for well-being -> CiLN participation

• CiLN DRAFT Action Plan: As we aim for a flourishing community of clinical informaticians, we need all perspectives to consider how we grow and mature. An Action Plan is an important step, so please share your ideas.
• Fellowship of Health Informatics NZ: CiLN is part of the wider health informatics community that has established a Fellowship pathway for those with a significant legacy of service and leadership in health informatics.
• The discipline of Clinical Informatics: Many CiLN members are trained first as clinicians, who then develop an interest and knowledge in informatics. Discussions about the discipline are helpful in clarifying how informatics impacts our clinical work and the role we play, as clinicians, within the health informatics sector.
• Job and research opportunities are posted within the CiLN section of https://forum.hinz.org.nz/c/ciln-only/90, for those considering a change in circumstance.
  

New models -> some clinical informatics developments

• NZ International Patient Summary: new draft standards are open for comment until Aug 26 2022, about the makeup of ‘a core personal health data set’ which covers health conditions, medicines and even care plans. This is about the data we enter and use as clinicians, so that it can be appropriately shared across a circle of health providers involved in a person’s care. Have your say here: https://consult.health.govt.nz/hiso/hiso-10099-2022-nzips/
• Hira (National health information platform): This is an “initiative enabled through a programme that is creating Information as a Service by building a connector and designing new experiences.” The connectors will be Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) with design being informed by users. Hira embraces Te Tiriti o Waitangi by establishing Te Rangapū Tiriti rōpū that will have equal decision-making power. Several CiLN members are involved in this exciting programme that promises to be a foundational innovative component of our health reforms.
• A range of digital initiatives are supported by the Ministry of Health and Te Whatu Ora, and input from CiLN members would be invaluable. Consider starting a topic about initiatives, to sound out colleagues about their user experiences:
  - My Health Account - the uptake was impressive, as this was the mechanism for accessing Vaccine Passes via My Covid Record.
  - Telehealth - The NZ Telehealth Forum & Resource Centre is an excellent resource as well as a mechanism to engage with other implementers and users of telehealth tools.
  - eMedicines - From using NZ Formulary to ePrescribing, there are many initiatives to consider and reflect upon.
  

Join CiLN on www.forum.hinz.org.nz to experience a passionate community that may be just the antidote you need for the current daily clinical grind we face. Kia kaha katoua.

Picture: CiLN Advisory Panel member, Emily Gill (rural GP and Senior Lecturer)


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