Digital and tech ‘the only way forward’ for healthcare - Levy

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

Technology represents the only viable path forward for the country’s healthcare system, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Commissioner Lester Levy says. 

Speaking at the MTANZ Conference in Auckland, he outlined his vision for artificial intelligence, automation and digital innovation to revolutionise patient care delivery.

“Digital and technology is the only way that we can go forward. There is no other option,” he said.

“How we fund it, where we start: we are just working on that right now and will have some announcements in the next months that will provide a lot more clarity.”

Levy told attendees that "technology is just going to become more and more important", as Health New Zealand moves away from traditional hospital-centric models toward care delivered closer to patients' homes.

“The target operating model is that the default locus of care is going to be as close to the home as possible, if not the home itself,” he said.

When asked how the organisation is going to fund the technology needed to make this transition he replied that there is some more money available, “but for us to invest the way we need to invest, we have to disinvest.

“We need to stop doing things that do not add the same value and we need to take that money and invest,” he said.

He said the current approach to procuring technology at the organisation is backward looking and focused on cost rather than value. 

“We are focused on outputs, we are not focused on outcomes," he said. 

Levy told the health tech conference the boundaries between human and the machine are dissolving, and that "artificial intelligence, generative artificial intelligence and agentic artificial intelligence are exponential technologies accelerating at a rate unimaginable three or four years ago."

He said that automation, including multifunctional robots capable of lifting patients and performing various tasks, will also become increasingly important for healthcare delivery.

"The multifunctional robot is on its way: everything is driven by artificial intelligence," he told the audience, adding that technology implementation must be "regulated, safe, simple, agile and non-bureaucratic" to work in the health sector.

Levy, who finishes his role as commissioner this month, also confirmed that a new board for Health NZ is expected to be announced soon.

Image: Commissioner Lester Levy speaking at the MTANZ Conference in Auckland on June 30, 2025

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