Remote Patient Monitoring expands through HealthX

NEWS  - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

Health New Zealand's HealthX programme is rolling out 100 remote patient monitoring kits (RPM) to six hospitals across Wellington, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, and Whangārei, cutting the time needed to stabilise heart failure patients on medication from six months to six weeks.

The expansion follows a successful regional trial using Spritely in the Hawke’s Bay that showed 80 percent of heart failure patients reached recommended medication levels within six weeks using remote monitoring, compared to five to six months under traditional care models.

Health Minister Simeon Brown, writing in a column for eHealthNews, says remote monitoring devices and virtual check-ins allow clinicians to track patient conditions and respond early if something changes.

One hundred RPM kits have been approved and are now being introduced in stages across Wellington, Waikato, Tairāwhiti, and Whangārei.

“Each monitoring kit can also be reused, making it a practical way to extend specialist care and manage demand,” says Brown.

Sonny Taite, director of innovation and AI at Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora, said at the recent AI in Clinical Practice conference in Auckland that the programme enables care across rural locations, addressing one of HealthX's three core pressure areas alongside workforce challenges and clinical inefficiencies.

A recent example from Kaitaia showed the system's flexibility when a rural cardiology nurse needed to take a holiday and the team was able to redirect weekly patient consultations to Whāngerei Hospital without interruption to the patient’s care, he said.

At a recent HiNZ workshop in Auckland – From IT to Digital and AI in Health – the Health New Zealand Hawke's Bay team presented on the heart failure project and said it is saving approximately $10,000 per patient while delivering faster care to rural and underserved communities.

The virtual care programme is supported by Spritely and provides patients with blood pressure monitors, oximeters and tablets for remote monitoring. Patients receive daily questionnaires and observation monitoring, with weekly consultations conducted remotely and the programme runs for 90 days before discharge.

Nurse practitioner Daman Kaur said it achieves shorter time frames, quicker time slots, frequent appointments, no patient or clinician travel, no readmissions and no DNAs.

"This is a win win situation for patients, clinicians, the health dollar, equity, access and models of care,” she told the Auckland audience.

HealthX launched in September 2025. The RPM solution is one of five initiatives being delivered as part of its monthly rollout programme designed to rapidly deploy AI and innovative solutions across the public health system.

Image: Daman Kaur presenting on the Hawke’s Bay virtual care project at HiNZ event - From IT to Digital and AI in Health – March 2026

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