South Island completes roll-out of regional patient administration system

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

Te Waipounamu has completed the roll-out of a fully integrated patient administration system, providing a regional view of the patient journey and enabling new functionality to be delivered more rapidly across the South Island.

The West Coast went live with the South Island Patient Information Care System (SI PICS) on 31 May 2025.

The system is already in use in the Nelson/Marlborough, Canterbury, South Canterbury and Southern districts.

Provided by McCrae Tech (previously Orion Health), SI PICS includes patient demographics, master patient index, appointment booking, waiting list management, patient transfers, records of patient activity, reporting, admission and discharges, and alerts and allergies.

Kirsty Martin, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora region group manager integration and delivery - Te Waipounamu, says the benefits of having a South Island-wide patient information system are significant. 

“SI PICS, in conjunction with Health Connect South, enables standardised workflows and service operations across the region and the efficiencies this brings,” she says. 

She provided an example of a regional service for Neurology which has been put in place with single waitlists. 

“There is a greater pool of clinical administrative staff across the region building collective expertise and operational resilience,” says Martin. 

“It enhances coordination between hospitals and communities, provides a regional view of the patient journey, and delivers richer data insights that support improved patient care and outcomes.” 

Martin says there are plans to continue building on this foundation, including integration with the single regional clinical portal to develop further clinical workflow, such as electronic referrals and eTriage.  

“It is already demonstrated that we can deliver functionality faster to the whole region by only having to integrate once with the central PAS, with the recent rollout of emailing patient appointment letters for all five South Island districts,” she explains. 

The New Dunedin Hospital digital programme will introduce new functionality integrated with SI PICS that will then be available to the other districts to implement, such as online booking and a patient queue management system. 

“SI PICS is part of a broader digital transformation strategy, with ongoing enhancements and integration with other platforms. These efforts aim to maximise the value of the system and support future digital initiatives, including capital funding proposals to further develop and connect systems,” Martin says. 

She tells eHealthNews the West Coast implementation involved a comprehensive training programme to ensure the 300 staff were well-prepared. 

Face-to-face training sessions were held from 28 April to 23 May supplemented with online learning for staff in Greymouth, Westport, Reefton and Hokitika.

Niru Rajakumar, chief executive of hospitals by McCrae Tech, says the SI PICS milestone caps a decade of sustained collaboration, and delivers real impact .

“With a single patient system now live across the South Island, we have made care safer and more seamless for over a million New Zealanders. It means fewer handoffs, faster treatment, and smoother journeys for patients, no matter where they live," he says.

"We congratulate Health NZ for their foresight and tenacity in seeing this through, it is a powerful example of public-private partnership done right. It is also a reminder that when New Zealand commits to long-term digital infrastructure, we can lead the world in joined-up, equitable care.”

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