Collaboration to achieve world-first solution

Collaboration to achieve world-first precision medicine solution gaining momentum

New Zealand partnership grows to a more than 12 leading vendors

A groundbreaking initiative to bring together leading health IT providers, to advance precision medicine in New Zealand, has more than quadrupled its membership in two weeks.

Since Orion Health announced it will be teaming with Medtech and CSC earlier this month, innovative New Zealand vendors such as Sysmex and Simplhealth, together with global leaders such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM and Microsoft, have expressed an interest in working together. Together these companies intend to create a strong national health IT grouping and NZ Inc. brand that will improve the health of millions of New Zealanders.

Orion Health, Medtech and CSC are delighted that collaboration discussions are progressing so well, with over 12 organisations now signalling their interest. Expressions of interest have come from Atlantis Healthcare Limited, Callaghan Innovation, Green Cross Health, Healthpoint Limited, Incisive Software, Konnect NET, MKM Health, NZ Trade and Enterprise, Pathway Navigator Limited.

Director of Strategy and Partnerships of Orion Health Kate Reid says customer need and delivering health outcomes for consumers will define the level and extent of the partnership agreements and how they need to be structured.

“We are excited to be working more closely with these partners who share our joint vision of a collaborative, NZ Inc. approach to fulfilling New Zealand’s healthcare future, and welcome other New Zealand technology and service organisations to join us,” Ms Reid says.

“Precision medicine; the next exciting stage of healthcare, is upon us, and New Zealand providers can lead the way through enabling the delivery of a healthcare approach that recognises the personalised needs of individuals, while also delivering on the Government’s vision for a national electronic health record.”

James Webster, CEO of Sysmex, says: “We are in exciting times. The positive effect of these organisations all working together on the wellbeing of New Zealanders could be truly spectacular. Through strength in partnerships, the future is much closer, and Sysmex is proud to be involved.”

Jodi Mitchell, CEO of SimplHealth, says its involvement shows how fundamentally important medication intelligence is in supporting collaboration in healthcare.

“If we know more about when medications are prescribed and taken, we can better assess a nation’s health, accurately look at specific conditions and improve healthcare overall, which is central to precision medicine.”

NZ Health IT (NZHIT), the industry peak body for the health IT sector, is in strong support of the initiative, already having commitments with the NZ Health IT Board to deliver an Interoperability Charter, which will see this collaboration in action and contributing to this goal.

Scott Arrol, CEO of NZHIT says: “This is an exciting time for the New Zealand health sector. A strong industry-led collaboration, and an interoperable landscape, are integral components in supporting the development of a world-leading health system. It will help to showcase how NZ organisations, and our partners on the international stage, can work together towards enabling improved health outcomes for New Zealanders.”

Orion Health, Medtech and CSC kicked off working sessions this week, and initial discussions have commenced around potential project areas which will include additional partners over time. These projects include a collective intent to work together to resolve delays across existing projects, a better connected community and secondary care, and enriching the patient portal so individuals have a richer healthcare experience.

“All of this is working to deliver an integrated health system solution and ultimately a smarter system for precision medicine in New Zealand,” says Ms Reid.

ENDS

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