Data and Digital Futures: Budget 2021

VIEW - Shayne Hunter, Deputy Director-General of Data and Digital, Ministry of Health

Change is needed in the way we collect and store health and disability information.

That’s because sources aren’t joined up, there is variation in how data is collected and stored, and data is not always accessible to help a person receive the best health care for their needs. It is also not always easy for New Zealanders to access or control their own health information, or to share it with trusted family and whānau. 
 
The Government has announced that Budget 2021 will provide an investment of up to $385 million over four years (and a further $15 million in capital funding in 2025/26) to implement Hira, formerly known as the National Health Information Platform, as well as other health sector data and digital infrastructure and capability. 
 
This investment into data and digital infrastructure and capability is needed to implement the health and disability sector reforms and improve health system performance. It will help make healthcare more accessible, sustainable and resilient, as well as improving health and wellbeing outcomes, and taking steps towards resolving inequality.
 
Hira will modernise the health system experience for patients, service users and the health and disability sector workforce. The first phase of investment will result in the creation of:

• Data services that enable health information to be published, discoverable and shared across the health and disability system with patients’ consent; and 
• Applications and websites which allow individuals to securely access their health information from across the system, and health providers to access the health information for individuals they are providing care for. 

Hira will also empower people to monitor their own health. People will be able to update, contribute to and correct their own health information, and consent to their information being shared with their support network so they don’t have to repeat their story. 
  
The investment in Hira through Budget 2021 will also improve the ability for health organisations to respond to consumer needs, facilitate more efficient and effective patient journeys, implement new digitally enabled models of care, improve workforce experience and satisfaction, and reduce preventable hospitalisation and demand for hospital services.  
  
As well as the investment in Hira, up to $116.644 million will be invested over the next four years to transform the Ministry’s Health Sector Agreements and Payments systems. 
  
Around $10 billion across 90 million transactions is paid through the health sector agreements and payments systems each year to service providers on behalf of the Crown and District Health Boards.   
 
The current payments systems are no longer fit for purpose. The three separate systems are inflexible and poorly integrated with each other, and the associated processes rely heavily on manual data entry. 
  
The existing payments systems are also increasingly unstable. While the Ministry has to date been able to manage isolated outages with limited impact on users, there is an ongoing risk of a significant service failure. 
  
The investment through Budget 2021 will see the development of a modern and responsive payments system with significantly shorter payment cycles and more timely, accessible and accurate data for all system users, including those who fund, provide and use healthcare. 
 
Shayne Hunter is Deputy Director-General of Data and Digital, Ministry of Health.

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