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AI a positive disruptor for health, says Minister

Thursday, 18 September 2025  

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

Minister Brown speaking at the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association ConferenceArtificial Intelligence (AI) will be a positive disruptor in the health system and New Zealand needs to embrace it to support better productivity, the Minister of Health says.

"The power of AI is going to going to be incredibly disruptive in the health system in a positive way,” Simeon Brown told the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association Conference on September 18.

While there are a number of really important factors that need to be considered around patient safety and patient information, “the power of AI in care is something which we need to embrace in order to support that productivity equation”, the Minister said.

He told attendees that technology adoption can boost productivity, and that while health funding has doubled over the past decade, productivity has not kept up.

"We need to be fast in our decision making, utilise what the rest of the world is doing, embrace it and adopt it here so that we can take advantage of the productivity-enhancing tools and technologies that are available,” said Brown.



Director general of health Audrey Sorenson also told the conference that the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora are working on bringing AI tools into healthcare, with the aim of enhancing patient care and easing the burden on staff. 

"We are working to ensure AI tools are safe, effective, and deliver for patients," Sorenson said. 

"The focus is simple: use technology where it improves care and reduces pressure on staff, without compromising safety, privacy, and trust.

“New technology can also help with more simple tasks, like triaging and prioritising surgical waitlists as well as capital investment.”

Sorenson said that improving productivity through capital investment needs to include investment in digital infrastructure and technologies and private hospitals are often further ahead in this area.

“There will be opportunities to learn and collaborate, sharing best practice and technological advantages to benefit the entire health sector,” she said.

Health NZ has appointed Sonny Taite as digital director innovation and AI and created a new programme called HealthX, to identify and implement AI-driven solutions to healthcare challenges across the motu. 

The programme aims to deliver one project per month starting in September 2025 until February 2026, focusing on existing ideas from frontline healthcare workers rather than developing new concepts.

At the NZPSHA conference, the Minister also said he had been "surprised" to discover Health NZ was developing its own AI app to take patient notes, when you can buy these tools off the shelf, and that the country should use and embrace what the rest of the world is doing.

Taite says that building an ambient scribe taught the organisation a lot.

"It showed us what clinicians value, what works in busy real-world settings, and where the gaps are. Those lessons have shaped our current approach, and we will carry them forward should we decide to build our own solutions again in future," he says.

Health NZ is now trialling a panel of endorsed AI scribe providers, including Heidi and iMedX, endorsed by the National AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group (NAIAEAG) following rigorous privacy and security reviews.

"These tools are now being tested in clinical settings to help reduce cognitive load, improve documentation quality, and most importantly, give clinicians back time to focus on their patients," he says.

"This shift in approach is deliberate to give us flexibility, scalability, and access to solutions already proven in other health systems. We are rolling them out with strong governance, local oversight, and a clear focus on patient safety and clinician experience."

Taite says the health system is not adopting AI for its own sake, but "doing it to improve care - for clinicians and the people they serve".

Hear more from the minister of health at Digital Health Week 2025 this November 24-27 in Christchurch. Register today.

Image: Minister Brown speaking at the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association Conference
Photo credit - NZPHSA
 

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