Revolutionary health technology

For Immediate Release
22 December 2016

Hamilton general practice first in NZ to launch revolutionary health technology

The way New Zealanders interact with their health information, family doctors and other health providers is going high tech.

And patients at Grandview Medical Centre in Hamilton, a Pinnacle Midlands Health Network practice, are the first in the country to experience one of the most revolutionary technologies on the market called indici.

CEO of Pinnacle Midlands Health Network Macaskill-Smith says, “Just as products like Xero have changed the world for businesses and accountants, indici is set to change the world for patients and health professionals.”

Indici is a new patient health information system, for health professionals to record patient notes, results and medications.

Currently, there is no open-access patient management system (PMS) designed with the patient at the centre with the ability for family doctors, hospital specialists, community health providers and any other health-related carer to input into and access – with permission - a person’s health record.

“Patients can access limited records through current systems but cannot share or add to their own records. Indici, unlike any other system in New Zealand, brings a patient’s record to them and makes it available to all those a person chooses to involve in their care,” says Macaskill-Smith
He says the use of indici will help New Zealand’s health care industry leap forward “through smart use of the best IT.”

“Globally we’ve seen how technology plays an important role in changing just about every aspect of how we live our lives. However, the health sector has lagged behind others in using IT to innovate. This is surprising when technology has the potential to play an incredibly crucial role in the health of whole communities.

“People may not realise that doctors and specialists who treat a patient are still sharing health records by fax, post or PDF documents sent on email. This creates unnecessary administrative work to input information which increases the risk of errors or omission of health information on a patient’s record.

“The current way of working also creates huge delays for patients and health professionals in accessing information,” he says.

Patient timeline like a Facebook feed

Macaskill-Smith says indici’s unique ‘patient timeline’ feature contains information on a patient’s complete health journey, from right across the whole health system, in one place.

“Like a Facebook feed, indici is constantly updating a person’s health record as people involved in their care make notes and input information. No longer will your health information be lost in provider systems – it is continually available to you 24/7.”

With indici, a patient’s complete health history is accessible to anyone who the patient gives access, from family to hospital specialists.
“This ease of sharing is incredibly useful to patients because everyone involved in supporting the person, from a wide array of health and community providers to family members, can gain access securely on any device, anytime, from anywhere. All of this is governed by a carefully designed privacy framework,” he says.

Integrated patient portal a key benefit
Hamilton-based General Practitioner John Morgan has been part of a group of GPs piloting indici.

“Among its many benefits, indici is great for sharing information. It allows patients to have multiple care team members of their choice accessing the same patient information and care plan – including hospitals and other family members,” he says.

“The patient portal, which includes a smartphone app, was developed with input from patients and is integral to the indici system rather than a separate tool. The portal provides a wide range of options for interacting not only with your family doctor but any health provider involved in your care – including virtual options like videoconferencing and private-messaging.

“The portal also supports patients and their families by linking them with high quality New Zealand-based health information to enable them to add their own information from home monitoring and fitness devices.”

Primary, secondary and community providers will also use

Network project manager Phillip Duncan has led the piloting of indici inside general practices over the past 18 months. He says his team has also begun additional pilot projects with other primary, secondary and community providers.

“We are currently piloting indici beyond general practices. For instance, we are working with a group of community providers who will be using tablets to input information directly into indici, meaning they will now be connected with broader primary care, they will also have access to the health record and contribute directly with it and there will be a big reduction in their compliance burden.

“We are also working with home care providers to give access to patient information as they go into the homes of the people they assist.
“St John’s Ambulance will be also working with us to ensure their current system integrates seamlessly with indici, allowing quick access to a patient’s health history at the point of crisis care.

“We’ve had great feedback so far. Community providers are excited about the patient benefits but also about the chance to become connected to members of the broader health and social care team. Many of them work in a mobile way and they love how indici makes their jobs easier,” Mr Duncan says.

Macaskill-Smith says while Grandview Medical Centre is the first general practice in New Zealand to test indici, several other practices and community providers will begin trialling the system this month.

“Indici will be available more broadly to GPs, specialists, NGOs, community providers and Maori health providers from February next year.
“Work is also well underway with some of the region’s hospitals to ensure two way transfer of health information when required.

“Indici provides an important step towards achieving a national electronic health record, but it starts with patients and is based in the community – that’s where people live and manage their care 99% of the time,” says Macaskill-Smith.

Developed in New Zealand with wide input

Indici was developed by Pinnacle Midlands Health Network over the past two years alongside its technology partner, Valentia Technologies.
Indici is the first system in New Zealand developed locally.

“Doctors, nurses, practice managers and many community-based providers and patients have worked together to help design the system. They’ve not only driven the great ideas, but have tested it day-to-day to ensure it will work in every patient-facing scenario.

“Indici is a product that is unlike anything ever used by the New Zealand health system. We’ll be using patient and health provider feedback to continuously evolve the system to match evolving needs.

“This is not a US or European-designed product but something designed here by New Zealanders with patient information being stored locally here in New Zealand in the most secure level facilities available,” says Macaskill-Smith.

ends

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