National panel for AI scribe suppliers to be established

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora has released a Request for Proposal to establish an open panel of suppliers for AI ambient scribe solutions to improve clinical productivity and experience.

The initiative aims to reduce administrative burden by providing clinicians with access to tools that generate accurate structured clinical documentation, allowing them to spend more time on direct patient care.

New Zealand already has the Heidi Health AI-powered scribe deployed in every emergency department nationwide, with 1,250 clinicians currently using the technology and another 1,000 licences being added to support mental health teams.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said in March 2026 that, "this places New Zealand among the fastest health systems in the world to move from pilot to nationwide frontline AI use in emergency departments, helping clinicians spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork”.

The procurement will create a pre-qualified panel of suppliers that meet defined clinical, technical, privacy and assurance requirements.

"The panel will provide access to AI-enabled tools that support clinicians to generate accurate, structured clinical documentation from patient-clinician interactions, while maintaining appropriate clinician oversight and clinical safety controls," the RFP states.

The open panel approach will provide flexibility and choice to Health NZ districts and services by enabling access to multiple qualified suppliers, the documents say.

All production data, including patient health information processed or generated by the solution, must be hosted in data centres physically located in New Zealand or Australia and solutions must comply with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.

"Clinical safety, patient trust, and responsible use of AI are fundamental," the documents say. 

"Solutions must demonstrate mature governance, transparency, and safeguards to protect patient information and support safe clinical practice."

Responses should be in by 7 May and the expected contract start date is July 2026.

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