Current health tech ‘primary blocker to achieving national health goals’

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth 

A new centre with a dedicated board and leadership team will oversee delivery of the 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan using both Health New Zealand staff and partners.

Investment in digital health infrastructure is a strategic imperative as the current state of health technology is a "primary blocker to achieving national health goals", a notice of future procurement opportunities says.

Health New Zealand is establishing the centre to drive delivery of the 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan (HDIP), launched by the Minister of Health at Digital Health Week 2025.

Darren Douglass, acting chief information technology officer, told the conference the centre represents "a new and innovative way of doing things, not just for Health New Zealand, but for New Zealand government agencies”.

He said the Centre for Digital Modernisation will serve as "the engine room that powers the Health Digital Investment Plan," managing everything from strategy and architecture to investment, design, delivery and change management.

It will include an AI Innovation group and a digital academy to build capability across the health workforce.

"The Centre will also provide transparency with clear reporting on progress, risks and dependencies across the entire plan," Douglass said.

He described the HDIP as "the first national digital plan of its kind for our health system," and a “a key part of the national health reform agenda”.

"We need a clear, actionable path to investing in, stabilising, modernising and advancing the health system," Douglass told attendees. 

The plan’s seven focus areas are; digitally enabled models of care, intelligence and insights,; clinical and operational experience, people and whānau experience, corporate experience, technology foundations and data and interoperability.

It was published alongside a notice of future procurement opportunities, which outlines upcoming investment in; an electronic health record (HER), remote patient monitoring, national radiology solutions, a national integrated operating centre and booking and scheduling.

Also, public cloud infrastructure, human capital management and enterprise resource planning, patient engagement solutions, and a national Wide Area Network.

“This procurement will be delivered in partnership with the GCDO, who have a system leadership role for All of Government (AoG) digital procurement,” the GETS notice says.

Deputy government chief digital officer Myles Ward, who also spoke at Digital Health Week, sits on the Centre’s new board.

Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons says the plan risks failure unless the government changes course on its cuts to the workforce and funding needed to deliver it.

"The Minister is right that our health system needs digital transformation, but you can't deliver on that promise this while drastically cutting the workforce responsible for implementing it and not investing in the workers," said  Fitzsimons.

"Data and digital staff are currently in mediation because they are not being offered a fair cost of living increase. On Friday they'll be striking from 1-5pm because this Government refuses to properly value the workers it claims are critical to modernising our health system.”

Image: Darren Douglass, CITO, speaking at Digital Health Week 2025

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