Summarised by Centrist
Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora has alerted the government that half of the critical IT hardware in hospitals is outdated, necessitating significant investment and effort to maintain operations.
In a briefing to Health Minister Shane Reti, it was revealed that digital modernisation projects are urgently needed to address the extensive “tech debt” that hampers healthcare performance.
The briefing detailed the fragility and fragmentation of the current systems, including over 6,000 applications, 1,000 outdated servers, and numerous unsupported databases and devices.
The healthcare system manages vast amounts of data, equivalent to more than 5,000 billion pages, but outdated infrastructure limits efficiency and security.
To combat these issues, Te Whatu Ora advocated for encouraging private investment in digital health and adopting global standards to spur innovation in New Zealand.
The briefing emphasised that smart technology usage could significantly improve care, increase capacity, drive savings, and enhance clinician productivity.
International examples, such as Canada’s “NASA-style” control centre and the US’s remote monitoring systems, were highlighted as models New Zealand could emulate.
