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