Introducing the national clinical informatics team
Thursday, 11 April 2024
CiLN News  Lara Hopley, chief clinical informatics officer (CCIO) Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora
How is the CCIO office contributing to Digital Health?
In medicine at present, we have a lot of problems—overloaded clinicians, technical debt, siloes, fiefdoms, unwanted variation that puts people at risk, waste and gaps: especially gaps. As the name suggests, clinical informatics is there to help bridge the gap between clinical medicine and information science.
Few people are good at both. We have brought together a group of experts in both fields, complementing one another (and even complimenting one another, too)! It is pathetically easy to trade off short-term gains for long-term pain; with clinical informatics, we try to step back and look at the bigger picture. This article introduces you to this nascent team, that will grow and develop over time, but what are we actually going to do?
We find practical solutions that are strategic rather than tactical—solutions that last.
This is difficult, precisely because medicine is complex. There’s no user manual for the human body; and most of the textbooks are out of date before they are published. On the technology side, things change daily. You’ve seen all the recent to-and-fro with AI. How can we cope?
Fortunately, we can use principles that have been around and progressively refined since the 1930s. These are the basic principles of continuous quality improvement—establishing virtuous cycles. Modern science has evolved to the point where we can consistently learn from our failures, sensibly question our most fervent beliefs, and build better models and better processes in consequence. Done well, information technology is a powerful assistant.
Technology must be there to make your job easier. We want to help build systems that gently assist you in doing the right thing, and make it difficult to do the wrong thing. Clinical informatics counters excessive complexity with simplicity; listens to people on the floor so we can find the solutions you need; and fosters a climate of co-operation and trust. We help to build in quality, so this flows on to everyone who uses our health care system. But to do this, we in turn need your help.
Here are the team leaders who will work with you to make this happen.
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 Kate Yeo, clinical informatics director, provider engagement
A registered nurse who has worked in several senior roles and countries, Kate Yeo leads the team of senior clinical staff under the banner of clinical informatics provider engagement.
“We are clinical specialists with expertise in leading people and organisations through their information technology journeys. We are champions for digital transformation across the health sector, communicating strategic direction and principles at national, regional, and local levels,” she says.
“We support health providers to engage with data & digital, communicating their needs and ideas.”
Yeo says this team sits at the intersection of front-line clinical staff, clinical leadership, and information technology. Her team is made up of the following clinical informaticians;
- Tina Sun
- David Robiony-Rogers
- Vicki Quincey
- Andy Childs
- Andrew Miller
- Steve Earnshaw
- Bev Nicolls
 Matt Valentine, clinical informatics director, information flow
With 16 year of ED practice in Whakatāne (ongoing) and over a decade in clinical informatics there, Valentine is thrilled to have recently started in the position of clinical informatics director – information flow.
“This exciting role allows me to advise, assist and guide data and digital projects and functions in which we need to ensure that the right health data is available to the right person, whether that person is a clinician, a health consumer, or whānau,” he says.
“This is a broad remit, so areas of focus currently are the Hira programme, CanShare, and the National Data Platform.”
 Brian Yow, clinical informatics director, governance, quality & safety
Yow is passionate about delivering excellent services that build towards a safer, better, more equitable and sustainable health system. Originally a doctor at Counties Manukau District, he gradually delved into informatics, quality, risk management and hospital operations and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA).
His team’s priorities include ensuring an interconnected, transparent and accountable digital clinical governance ecosystem, implementing safety-by-design methodology to enhance the delivery lifecycle, and embedding continuous quality improvement principles to foster a culture upon which excellence can flourish.
Yow’s team has two clinical Informatics Leads – Governance, Quality & Safety, specialising in different national portfolios.
- Sadhana Maraj
- Nathan Kershaw
 Sarndrah Horsfall, GM, digital enablement and engagement
Horsfall's background is in telecommunications, however since moving into health she has worked for the UK Government on population health, led a patient safety government organisation and, more recently, worked in health regulation in the UK and Australia driving new health reforms using digital technology. Horsfall is ably supported by:
- Eleanor MacTavish
- Keita Twist
- Karen Ellis
- Manu Sione
- Pikuia Reihana
- Corrie Whitehead
- Tom McLean
- Margaret Wikaire
- Tia Rameka
- Sarona Iosefa
- Belen Ortega
Jon Herries, group manager - new health technology & innovation
 Having travelled through the worlds of clinical, commissioning, project management and private consulting, Herries has a good understanding of what integrated care can look like.
“My current areas of focus in on emerging technology and innovative ways of using our current systems better and helping to build the ecosystem we deserve,” he says. Herries leads the following: - Eileen Duddy
- Mary Crowe
- Ben Briggs
- Rāwiri Kerehoma-Hoerara
- Wade Reweti
- Hayley Johnson
- Lavan Mahes
- Xinxue Tan
- Ezra Jennings-Pedro
 Sonya Morice, Group Manager - Clinical Informatics
Morice previously worked at the South Island Alliance Programme Office for more than 11 years and now leads a team of four clinical informatics MDT squad leads.
- Wendy Smith
- Karen Shaw
- Lucy Westbrooke
- Fiona Lee
Hopley says, "these are the people and teams you will encounter more and more as the CCIO team helps you to find solutions that will work in the long term".
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