eHealthNews.nz

Southern Connections July Workshop Banner

News

NZ Health Group processes 2 million calls using AI-Powered contact centre

9 July; 2026

Home and community care provider New Zealand Health Group has implemented automation and AI into its service centres that process over 2 million calls annually.

AI & ANALYTICS

New law regulating AI and SaMD in force late 2029 at earliest

3 July; 2026

A two-year transition period is planned before the new Medical Products Bill takes effect, which will regulate software as a medical device - including artificial intelligence used for therapeutic purposes.

NATIONAL SYSTEMS & STRATEGY

Connected devices lead Medsafe to rethink safety alerts

3 July; 2026

The rapid rise of connected medical devices such as continuous glucose monitors and smartphone apps that control insulin pumps is leading New Zealand's medicines regulator to rethink how patients get critical safety alerts and recall notices.

DIGITAL PATIENT

Health Technology Evaluation Pathway and long-term Investment Plan to modernise framented tech landscape

30 June; 2026

A new Health Technology Evaluation Pathway and Health Technology Investment Plan aim to bring consistency and transparency to how new medical technologies are assessed and funded in New Zealand’s health system, the health minister says.

NATIONAL SYSTEMS & STRATEGY

Healthpoint launches free AI navigation tool for NZ health services

29 June; 2026

Healthpoint has launched a free AI-assisted service navigation tool that helps New Zealanders find health services by describing what they need in their own words.

DIGITAL PATIENT

Features

Kiwis increasingly turn to AI for health advice, but trust remains low

10 June; 2026

Feature - eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth
One in five New Zealanders now turns to artificial intelligence platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude as their first port of call for health information but trust in AI-generated health advice remains low at just 28 percent, according to Stuff's inaugural Health of the Nation study.

DIGITAL PATIENT

Analytics and near real-time data drive transformation at Health NZ

26 May; 2026

Industry Innovation Article - Acumen BI
Health New Zealand has consolidated multiple systems inherited from over 20 supporting subsidiaries, District Health Boards and the Ministry of Health covering clinical, finance, payroll, supply chain, procurement and asset management data.

AI & ANALYTICS

Views

My View - Right-sizing identity for a workforce that doesn't fit the org chart

30 June; 2026

New Zealand's health workforce identity problem isn't a technology gap, it is a paradigm that assumes every worker has one employer, one mailbox and one career. The data says otherwise, writes Fellow of HiNZ Samuel Wong.

WORKFORCE

My View: When health information is everywhere, trust becomes the service

22 June; 2026

Stuff’s Health of the Nation survey shows why the next digital health challenge is not producing more information, but helping people know what to do with it, writes Fellow of HiNZ Janine Bycroft.

DIGITAL PATIENT