Government Promises Unified Patient Records to Enhance Care

The government has announced a significant initiative aimed at transforming patient care through the introduction of a single electronic medical record system. This system is designed to streamline the sharing of medical information among general practitioners, specialists, and hospitals, ultimately reducing the need for patients to repeatedly recount their medical histories.

Simeon Brown, the Health Minister, emphasized that the new system would alleviate the burden on both patients and clinicians. “Patients often have to repeat their story multiple times, and clinicians waste valuable time on paperwork instead of treating patients,” he stated. He elaborated on the potential impact of this transformation, envisioning a coordinated treatment journey for patients, particularly those facing serious conditions such as cancer.

Health Digital Investment Plan Aims for Modernization

The initiative is part of the newly launched Health Digital Investment Plan (HDIP), which outlines a ten-year strategy to modernize the country’s health system. According to Brown, the plan aims to shift the current fragmented and outdated digital infrastructure into a cohesive and resilient framework. The HDIP prioritizes the development of a unified digital health system, addressing longstanding inefficiencies that have plagued patient care.

Recent incidents at hospitals have highlighted the urgency of this overhaul. Staff at Wellington Hospital have reported ongoing issues with computer glitches and system crashes, which they claim jeopardize patient safety and extend wait times. In a related incident, Palmerston North Hospital was forced to revert to manual record-keeping due to an IT failure, an issue that went unreported until now.

The new electronic medical record system has been designated as the top priority in the initial three years of the HDIP. Following this, ensuring timely and accurate payroll for healthcare staff with minimal manual intervention ranks as the second priority.

Funding and Future Initiatives

The government plans to allocate funds for several projects aimed at enhancing patient care. This includes remote patient monitoring to facilitate earlier discharges, a national radiology system to prioritize urgent cases, and improved cybersecurity measures to protect patient information. Furthermore, a Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health will be established, alongside the creation of ‘Health X’ for integrating artificial intelligence into healthcare.

Brown announced that one new program will be introduced each month. Innovations like AI-assisted note-taking in emergency departments and enhanced processes for x-ray evaluations are among the initiatives expected to roll out soon.

This latest effort follows a history of challenges in implementing electronic health records. In 2015, former Health Minister Jonathan Coleman initiated a project to establish electronic health records after failing to meet a target set in 2014. Despite these efforts, the project remained unfulfilled by 2018 under the subsequent Labour Government, raising concerns about the feasibility of large-scale IT developments within the health sector.

In 2021, the government allocated $400 million towards revitalizing the electronic health records initiative, which included the development of a new system known as Hira. However, progress has been slow, with reports indicating that work on Hira was paused in 2024 after completing less than a third of its intended tasks, and only one of the planned fifteen services was upgraded.

The promise of a unified electronic medical record system marks a significant step towards addressing the challenges faced by the healthcare system, with hopes that this initiative will lead to more efficient and effective patient care in the years to come.