At Least The New Zealand Government Is Looking Carefully At The Business Case For Digital Health!

This very hopeful report appeared last week.

Health Minister sees digitisation as improving the quality of healthcare

Wednesday, 14 March 2018  

eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

The Government is developing a Digital Health Strategy to support new and improved models of care and is considering the viability of a national Electronic Health Record.

Digitisation will improve care and quality in New Zealand’s public health service, says New Zealand’s Minister of Health, Dr David Clark.

The Minister says that a strong digital health system can help people to access healthcare when, how and where they need it.

“It can also make it easier for them to make informed choices about their own health and well-being,” he tells eHealthNews.nz.

“I believe that digitisation will improve care and quality in our public health service.”

However, Clark acknowledges that while digital technologies can play a significant role in supporting new and improved models of care, “investment is often required upfront to achieve long-term gains”.

“All IT projects, like other projects, require solid business cases so that the Government can assess and prioritise them alongside other investment demands,” he says.

The Government is currently considering the indicative business case for a national Electronic Health Record. Cabinet has requested additional details on the costs, benefits and risks of the EHR project before making its decision.

Ministry of Health chief technology and digital services officer Ann-Marie Cavanagh says the Ministry has now completed the work to update and provide an indicative business case for a decision on the next stages of the project.

More here:

https://hinz.site-ym.com/news/390807/Health-Minister-sees-digitisation-as-improving-the-quality-of-healthcare.htm

The relevant paragraph is this one:

“Cabinet has requested additional details on the costs, benefits and risks of the EHR project before making its decision.”

If only our cabinet would have a dispassionate review of the myHR before pressing on with this evidence-free and over-hyped initiative. Asking the Auditor General or the Productivity Commission to have a really close look would be remarkably prudent – given how the whole initiative may just implode and become a political hot potato with the introduction of  “opt-out”.

I am a little worried about the use of the word “indicative” but nevertheless I look forward to seeing the Business Case in NZ and what it concludes!

David.