Returning partner to lead NZ healthcare team

Media release

6 April, 2011

Returning partner to lead NZ healthcare practice and enterprise information management team

Deloitte has announced the return of consulting partner Thorsten Engel to the firm's Wellington office following an overseas secondment.

Mr Engel, who recently finished a three-year term working for Deloitte in Switzerland, will lead the New Zealand firm's healthcare practice and its enterprise information management (EIM) team.

Mr Engel says this dual focus is a consequence of his unique career trajectory, in which he initially worked in clinical medicine before setting off in a new direction and developing a career in information technology.

"I started off my working life in medicine, so I have a genuine understanding of the many dimensions that make up the healthcare sector. This spans from issues face by people working at coal-face treating patients, through to the decision-making processes that take place in boardrooms and at different levels of government," Mr Engel says.

In addition, his subsequent move into IT has seen Mr Engel acquire a range of skills and abilities that use information management to improve organisational performance.

"What I am really passionate about is making innovative use of information systems so that our country's health providers can make material improvements to the well-being of New Zealanders."

Mr Engel's experience working in the United States, Australia, and more recently in Europe, means he is also looking forward to the opportunity to contribute Deloitte's extensive global know-how in healthcare to the New Zealand sector.

He also leads Deloitte New Zealand's enterprise information management (EIM) team which focuses on developing new operating models that create actionable business insights to improve performance and profitability.

"Each year, a vast volume of data is produced and we need to work out how to manage and how to best harness all this information. It presents an enormous opportunity, and challenge, for business.

"As consultants we should strive to create a multiple return on the investments made by our clients, with real tangible improvements."

Deloitte CEO Murray Jack says Mr Engel's past experience in medicine and as an information management consultant provides a unique perspective for clients on how this critical sector can improve performance for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

"Thorsten brings a skill set that combines real-life knowledge of the health sector and experience with the latest information management innovations being introduced around the world, providing our clients with a service offering that's unmatched elsewhere in New Zealand."
ends

© Scoop Media