Hira ‘paused’ after budget recall
New Zealand’s national health information platform project has been halted due to digital health budget cuts.
In a statement to Healthcare IT NewsMichael Dreyer, Director of Digital Channels Sector at Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), confirmed the Hira project has been suspended.
“Now that we have completed the first phase of Hira and laid a solid foundation for the project, the project is on hold and we are looking at plans for the future.”
Hira, he said, will form part of Te Whatu Ora’s 10-year infrastructure investment plan, which is currently in development. The plan could be released later this year, based on a news item.
THE BIGGER CONTEXT
The New Zealand government recently decided to think NZ$300 million ($200 million) for digital health initiatives over the next four years, including Hira. This also includes funding for free telehealth services offered through the advocacy group NZ Telehealth Forum. The budget savings come as the government doubled down on improving frontline services in Budget 2024.
Since 2021, the government has invested almost NZ$1 billion (over $600 million) in improving the health system’s data and digital infrastructure and capabilities.
The cuts to the digital health budget also come as Te Whatu Ora has decided to are slowing the expansion of health ICT to focus on “more robust” platforms and the transition to the cloud. In a briefing to Health Minister Dr Shane Reti last year, the agency revealed that the health system has a “patchwork” of more than 4,000 clinical and business applications, many of which are end-of-life or nearing end-of-life and have accumulated debt.
“We recognise both the challenges of the various data and digital systems we have inherited from previous entities, as well as the great potential of digital services to improve the delivery of health services,” Dreyer said in this release.
The first phase of the Hira implementation was completed in June. It now provides access to health information on My Health Record, including National Health Index details and vaccination records. The National Event Management Service is also live, providing near real-time notification of deaths. The project has also connector surface for access to Hira APIs and a developer portal for testing APIs.
Hira has also taken the first steps to enable access to information about prescribed and dispensed medicines and summaries of primary care.