Arindam Basu

Associate Professor, University of Canterbury
HiNZ member since 2020

I am an internationally reputed academic in Telehealth, currently leading the Telehealth Working Group of the International Medical Informatics Association as the Chair of the Working Group. I am also a clinician, and an Environmental Epidemiologist and specialist in Evidence based medicine and public health. I bring in the experience and expertise of being a Telehealth professional, a medical doctor, and a thought leader in population health.

My current research and teaching integrates Telemedicine/Telehealth for public health and improved access to care, and also for mitigation of pandemics and epidemics by using Telehealth to build One Health based disease surveillance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the research and working group I have led, both here at the University of Canterbury and internationally, have shown that while Telehealth has immense potential to mitigate the impact of a pandemic, this is also associated with significant unintended consequences if not used in the right way.

I believe that in New Zealand and the wider Pacific Island Nations, Telehealth/Telemedicine has a major role to play in optimising healthcare access and delivery. The challenge, however, In order to realise the potential of Telehealth, is that, we will need to develop a multidisciplinary approach to preventive and curative health care, consider diverse perspective, integrate data and digital, and integrate expertise from a diverse range of disciplines — including clinical care, epidemiology, indigenous knowledge, data science, and surveillance. In particular, embracing Telehealth and Data Science (artificial intelligence and machine learning) will result in an unprecedented advancement in optimising health services delivery and benefit population health, particularly in pre-empting pandemics. Data and digital have the potential to be major drivers in the changes that are needed for everyone in Aotearoa, particularly, if developed in a way that builds on the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

I chair the Telehealth Working Group of the International Medical Informatics Association. I am also an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University of Canterbury and a member of One Health Aotearoa. I will bring in clinical, research, and academic experience on board.

Sally Britnell

Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology
HiNZ member since 2015 | CiLN member

My name is Sally Britnell; I have a diverse clinical and digital health background. For example, as a Registered Nurse (RN), Ambulance Officer (AO), Academic and Informatician. One of the skills I pride myself in is communicating effectively with people from many backgrounds and acting as a bridge between practice, management and industry. For example, when working in an Emergency Department, as a Practice Nurse in Glen Innes and as an AO, clients were diverse and often from deprived areas of our community where English was not their first language. These roles have taught me adaptability, problem-solving, resilience, and strength and showed me the importance of valuing everyone and the need to change my communication and behaviour to match a situation and people. I believe this is a crucial strength I would bring to the HINZ Board.

My Current work is as an Academic teaching nursing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with a particular interest in teaching informatics, innovation and communication. This role has included strategic planning, curriculum design, content development, public speaking and leadership with over 180 students and 15 staff to manage at any time. Similarly, I have worked in developing policy at a School level and been part of a team who developed Guidelines: Informatics for Nurses Entering Practice.

My friends often call me a geek - I have a passion for innovation and hold a PhD in Computer Science (Health Informatics). I am working on two projects in this area. One involves computer vision and remotely measuring children for ongoing care (such as Plunket visits). The other involves working with bio-engineers to develop a guide dog harness that is individualised to both dog and handler (at present, we are investigating 3D printing to achieve this).

As a disabled woman who works with a guide dog, I am keenly interested in Accessibility in Health Informatics. I have several projects in progress in this area, investigating mobile accessibility (non-web-based) guidelines, investigating the disparity in funding and experience obtaining assistive technology between ACC and MSD as well as investigating the convergence of assistive and mainstream technology. My work in this area as an influencer, providing feedback on policy coupled with my diverse background, has led me to become an Invited Expert for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is responsible for the design and upkeep of accessibility guidelines. In particular, I work with the Mobile Accessibility Task Force looking at accessibility in a non-web-based environment.

I believe I would be an excellent addition to the board as I bring clinical, computer science and academic experience and pride myself on being a bridge between these sectors. I know HINZ reasonably well, having been a member since 2014, working as a Co-Chair at conferences, being on the Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Special Interest Group and being a part of CILN. I would bring excellent communication and represent the disabled community while providing knowledge and experience in digital accessibility. I am interested in ensuring academic rigour and ethical influence while working to make the HINZ board more accessible, inclusive, and available to everyday HINZ Members.

Rosie Dobson

Research and Evaluation Lead, Institute for Innovation and Improvement (i3), Te Whatu Ora Waitematā | Senior Research Fellow and Psychologist, National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland
HiNZ member since 2019 | CiLN member

I am the Research and Evaluation Lead at the Institute for Innovation and Improvement (i3), Te Whatu Ora Waitematā, and a Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland.

My clinical background as a Health Psychologist highlighted the inequities in access to mental health services and led me to research how digital innovations could make health services more accessible. I have extensive experience in digital health research and have been involved in designing and evaluating a range of digital tools across Aotearoa. I have led research into patient and public views on the use of health data. As the potential demand for health data increases, I am passionate about ensuring data is used in a patient-informed way. I am a current member of the Northern Region AI Governance Group and the National AI and Algorithm Expert Advisory Group.

I believe it is essential that we are training the workforce to maximize the potential of data and digital going forward. I co-facilitate the Clinical Digital Academy at Te Whatu Ora Waitematā and am the Course Director of a new postgraduate course in digital health design and evaluation at the University of Auckland.

HiNZ has a unique role in bringing together the data and digital community across Aotearoa providing a collaborative environment to support innovation in our health service. My priority is ensuring the patient and their whānau remain the focus.

I would welcome the opportunity to contribute my experience as a psychologist and digital health researcher to the HiNZ board.

Sarndrah Horsfall

Digital Enablement and Engagement Programme Manager, Data and Digital, Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand
HiNZ member since 2022

Aotearoa New Zealand has a vision for a future health and disability system that is people-centred, equitable, accessible and cohesive. The fourth key system shift sought to achieve this vision is: ‘Digital services will provide more people with the care they need in their homes and communities.

My passion since returning to New Zealand is around how whānau and communities can influence and shape our digital environment making it safe for them to use and builds trust in how data and digital can support them in making decisions around their healthcare. The experiences of consumers will be a critical source of intelligence to inform planning, priority setting and decision-making. Putting whānau at the centre of the data and digital design process will ensure a sense of community ownership and will also ensure what we develop works for them.

Ultimately, inclusivity partnerships is foundational that guides our work with Māori and Pacific communities, people living with disability and participation representing diversity.

I have a background in both the private and public sectors seeking to adapt - and to stay relevant - to a shifting set of consumers, whanau, community and stakeholder needs and the sheer pace of digitisation. From a commercial foundation in telecommunications (technology and product) through to success in leading comprehensive business and digital transformation, I use technology to enable business performance. Previously my roles have included future-proofing organisations against the pace of technology change, aware of the risks inherent with major operational shifts, including the importance of security and risk management. Complemented by experience in a Chief of Staff/COO capacity, I understand how to gain consensus and built platforms for change across diverse stakeholders and teams. Building trust by applying a non-hierarchical leadership style, I am confident in challenging convention, legacy bureaucracy and traditional ways of working to deliver meaningful change and innovation.

Rachael Page

General Manager, HealthOne
HiNZ member since 2015

I am the General Manager of HealthOne, the shared electronic health record for the South Island and a member of the HiNZ community for 9 years.

I have enjoyed nearly 10 years of leadership roles in the health sector - collaborating directly with the planners, funders, senior clinicians, operational and administrative decision makers, and digital health vendors across all parts of the health system.

As Programme Manager for several Regional IT Programmes of work, I have had the opportunity to lead innovation, collaboration, and service improvement.

I have worked in both public and private sectors and bring 20 years of service experience design, system and process improvement, governance, and operational management into the health sector.

My personal passion is removing technology barriers for clinicians so they can focus on delivering safe care. In a complex and rapidly evolving health & disability system, I believe collaboration, strong governance and an empowered workforce is vital.

Samuel Wong

GM - Product Management, Manage My Health
HiNZ member since 2012 | CiLN member | Appointed Board member 2022

I have a long-standing passion for all things related to health systems, digital enabling technologies, and data. My background in health informatics span nearly 25 years, with experiences covering clinical record management in hospitals; social, health, and disability statistics at Statistics NZ; and working in senior analytics lead or data governance/architect roles across primary health organisations, national emergency ambulance services, industry and national telehealth services. Throughout this time, my health informatics collaborations extended to most of the directorates at the Ministry of Health, ESR as well as research & development start-ups across Medtech/Biotech industries. I joined the Health IT industry in recent years, with a focus on patient-centred products and clinical data science research collaborations.

I hold a BSc (Biomedical Sciences) and a PGDipSci (Medical Sciences) from the University of Auckland. For seven years, I also clinically practiced as an Emergency Medical Technician for St John. In 2018, I completed Stanford University's LEAD: Corporate Innovation Certificate under the healthcare innovations workstream.

I currently serve as the Chair of DHA's Emerging Personalised Healthcare Group as well as actively participate on the NZ Telehealth Leadership Group as Chair of Data Standards working groups. In addition, I'm a member of the Ministry of Health ISO/TC 215 Health Informatics National Mirror Committee, and the ISO WG11 for Personalised Digital Health.

My interests include ensuring digital enablers are culturally well designed, adequately implemented with meaningful measures, and optimising patient journeys and clinical outcomes. This involves having to discover various health system workflows, the impact of local pathways, and system levers such as policy or contract impact. Using appropriate standards-driven analytics helps promote workforce development, pragmatic process improvements, and informs information governance mechanisms that allow for the realisation of equitable patient-centred care across Aotearoa.

Kerry Youngman

Clinical Principal Advisor – Informatics | Hira Programme, Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
HiNZ member since 2022 | CiLN member

I am a Clinical Principal Advisor for Informatics working for Te Whatu Ora on the Hira programme. My clinical background is as an Operating Department Practitioner in the UK and then as an Anaesthetic Technician for over a decade in New Zealand.

My previous informatics experience was with Medi-Map Ltd a medication management software company I provided clinical support for product design, change management, training, and ongoing product support. I have worked with both the private and public sectors across a broad range of specialities and members of the health workforce.

I believe that healthcare should be easily accessible and meet the needs of the consumer and their whānau. Digital health technologies when developed and implemented in partnership with consumers, whānau and the workforce can be a catalyst to support these needs.

The rapidly changing health sector landscape that the reforms have generated are creating new opportunities and challenges for digital health. Good governance, strategic planning and risk management are crucial to make sure we grasp those opportunities and manage the challenges across the motu. I want to offer my contribution to work alongside the other board members to meet the challenges and understand the opportunities so that digital health thrives in New Zealand.