Consumers to access key health information by mid-2024

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

A New Zealand patient summary (NZPS) will be available to consumers and healthcare providers by mid-2024, allowing people to log in to a website or app and see their health information in one place, as well as update some of it.

Delivery of the NZPS is part of Hira tranche one and includes access to key information such as demographics, medicines, vaccination status, entitlements and lab results.

More datasets will be added over time and a new API for health consumers will mean they can update their demographic information using their My Health Account login.

The NZPS is adapted from the International Patient Summary (IPS), an internationally recognised data standard that includes an individual's core personal health information.

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Alastair Kenworthy, Te Whatu Ora chief standards advisor, is co-hosting an IPS-athon at Digital Health Week 2023 on November 28 in Hamilton, with HL7NZ chair John Carter. Grahame Grieve, HL7 FHIR director and inventor of FHIR, will also be at the two-day workshop.

“The NZPS will support domestic use cases, as well as serve as a health passport to empower consumers who may be visiting family in the Pacific Islands or moving to New Zealand to study, for example,” Kenworthy says.

The latest Hira newsletter says secure access to the NZPS will be made possible through the Hira connector plane and work is underway to build this.

Hira technology and delivery director Gerard Keenan says supporting developers to build innovative applications that use the Hira APIs is a key part of Hira, and the developer portal is integral in achieving this.

The developer portal contains information on the APIs, how to use them, and provides access to test systems and data.

Once the developer has an approved application, a consumer can login to their application using their My Health Account and in the background the API gateway and connector plane validate the request and provide access to the data.

Keenan says the success of the Hira connector plane will be measured by how easy it is to use.

“We must have a practical, simple system, that supports equity of access. We need to make sure vendors have equal opportunities to access APIs; and that innovation is encouraged.”

The Hira update says an RFP process has been completed, and approval given to move to commercial discussions. The aim is to have the system in production later this year.

Picture: Alastair Kenworthy, Te Whatu Ora chief standards advisor and chair of HISO



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