AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group for health

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

An AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group will provide oversight and advice on the use of Artificial Intelligence tools within Te Whatu Ora, the Minister of Health says.

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall spoke at the Hack Aotearoa Conference in Auckland on March 17, where she said the introduction of some technologies will be challenging for communities and the use of AI raises a lot of questions.

“I’m really pleased that Te Whatu Ora has convened an AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group to make sure we are thinking across these issues of social license, so that when you develop all these amazing tools we can use to improve our health system, we are also bringing our community along with us,” she said.

Te Whatu Ora says the organisation is developing and operating AI and algorithms, and the group will "provide oversight and expert advice about the appropriateness, safety, effectiveness, ethics and ongoing improvement of any AI or mathematical algorithm research, development, projects, partnerships, contracts or implementation within Te Whatu Ora".

Verrall said data and digital is a system shift the government recognises it needs to make in order to transform the health system and the “government is really committed to work on improving our data and digital systems”.

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Budget 2022 invested in growing capability in this space.

“We have a lot of digitisation projects underway in the health system and Covid accelerated that,” said the Minister.

Verrall said New Zealand is uniquely positioned to take advantage of technology as it has traditionally had some of the best health information systems in the world and has the NHI (National Health Index) Number, which means “we have access to some of the best joined up data in the world”.

“We have this unique national infrastructure, but we need to take the next step to join up the range of data we have in our health system,” she told the audience.

Chair of Te Aka Whai Ora – Māori Health Authority, Riana Manuel, told the conference she comes from a rural existence “where data and digital means everything to us”.

She said the health system requires an overhaul and the health workforce needs to grow and diversify.

“Digital services and technology will vastly help this picture as we can only grow so many clinicians at a time and we have a lot to do to ensure the right support systems are in place, particularly for Māori students, to get them from end to end,” she said.

Manuel talked about her experience during the Covid-19 response and the huge change that the digital offering made to her work giving vaccinations in a rural area.

When there were not enough clinicians to deliver the huge number of immunisations nationwide, kaimahi were trained to do this and as a predominantly younger workforce they easily adapted to doing things online.

Of her kaimahi team, three went on to medical school and two to train as nurses.

Manuel also talked about the need to embed indigenous data sovereignty into health, which is about “making sure we have data sovereignty over a set of data that is often not as accurate as we would like it to be”.

“To make change you have to be certain the data you get is correct,” she said.

The current membership of the expert group is:

Robyn Whittaker (Chair), Jon Herries, Kevin Ross, Rochelle Style, Paul Muir, Andrew Sporle, Juliet Rumball-Smith, Greig Russell, Amanda Mark, Kerry Hiini, Jeeva Ganesan, Carole Barnay, Rosie Dobson, Angela Ballantyne, Brett Cowan and Prageeth Jayathissa.

Picture: Health Minister Ayesha Verrall

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