Mr. Chuah, at the Global E-Health Forum in Hamburg, you presented on "Sustainable Personalized Healthcare - Challenges and Opportunities in New Zealand". How you would define "Personalized Healthcare"?
In New Zealand we are concentrating on getting the basics in place so that, when in need, a person can access health services:
- at the right time
- at the right place
- with care delivered by the right providers/carers/clinicians.
We recognise that services needed by New Zealanders will move across a continuum of self-care, home care, community care, primary care and hospital care. It is important that as we look at our health services, we look at how a person is properly cared for as they move across this continuum. The person must not be lost somewhere in this continuum through "gaps" in our health system.
Are there any differences between the definition of "Personalized Healthcare" in Europe and New Zealand?
The continuum I describe above is no doubt familiar to my colleagues working in Europe. Any differences will come from how, where, when and on what each country chooses to focus in addressing personalised healthcare.
Your presentation concluded with a Maori proverb stating that people are the greatest thing in the world. In your view, what is the greatest thing in the domain of eHealth in Europe?
The Maori proverb reminds me that what we do affects people's lives and their well being. In bringing about changes in the health system, academic, intellectual and technological solutions are only possible if we can bring people along with us. The platform for change requires strong relationships and trust. This can only be achieved through engagement, communication, dialogue and understanding different perspectives.
In the realm of eHealth, New Zealand, like Europe, will not have a lack of eHealth solutions. The big challenge is how to bring various stakeholders with us. This requires leadership and change management that takes into account the context of each country and getting the balance right between "pulling" and "pushing" eHealth solutions.
How about the greatest achievement in the realm of eHealth in New Zealand?
I have come to appreciate that one of the great strengths of the New Zealand health system is the high degree of integration of primary care with hospital care. In the area of eHealth, the connectivity between these two parts of our system is where our greatest achievements lie at this point in time. The work is by no means finished - and I suspect that it will never be as we strive to constantly change and improve ourselves.
You are working closely with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the New Zealand government's economic development agency. Why is eHealth an important topic for a national economic development agency?
Taking a wider perspective, people are a country's greatest resource. Keeping our people well and healthy and allowing them to contribute to our national economic development makes sense. Looking specifically at healthcare, it is easy to focus on health expenditure as a cost rather than an investment. In New Zealand, when we stand back and look at carers and health professionals, as well as those who receive health services, we see a national economic resource - not just a "cost".
Our health professionals are amongst the most well educated and well trained of our national workforce. Increasingly our carers and users of health services have good ideas about what works and what doesn't. Almost everyone recognises that our health system needs to change. As we design eHealth solutions that complement our investments in workforce, and make capital investments that support a redesign of health services, we will unlock energy and enhance both health-related and economic outcomes. The return on our investment will be helping to make New Zealand healthier, wealthier and wiser.
The progress we are making in New Zealand in the realm of health is already providing a very strong foundation towards this national economic development objective.
Can you provide 1-2 examples of eHealth innovation in New Zealand, for example technology providers or services developed?
Some of our most recent eHealth innovations include national programmes for each of the following:
- electronic referrals from general practice to hospitals
- electronic discharges from hospitals to general practice
- electronic transfer of patient notes between general practices eprescribing in primary care
- medication management in hospitals.
New Zealand is often portrayed as being at the forefront of innovation in eHealth. What do you attribute this to?
Having a single tier government, having a "can do" attitude, being a long way from everyone else and being a small country are often cited as reasons. There is no doubt that as a country we are early adopters of new ideas and are prepared to give new approaches a try. In the area of eHealth, we have vendors that have been able to work with our health professionals and providers in developing, testing and implementing new solutions. The biggest asset we have is a health sector in which the different actors want to engage with each other (no matter how hard and challenging the discussions). The next biggest asset we have is that we are prepared to give new ideas a go. We get very restless if all we do is keep talking rather than doing. In New Zealand we learn and make progress because we are prepared to implement novel ideas and approaches.
Is there any thing you would like to share with readers of eHealthNews.eu and eHealthServer.com about the National Health Board Business Unit of the Ministry of Health and / or New Zealand Trade and Enterprise?
Making progress in eHealth needs to be set against the context of changes required in the whole health system. Too often decision makers have tried to use eHealth to drive fundamental changes in the health system. This does not work because change management is always about people. Logic, facts and technology (no matter how compelling) in themselves cannot drive change. Multiple factors need to be aligned in order for change to happen. In today's environment where technology is changing so fast, we need to make sure that the "human" factor of change management is considered carefully if we are to be successful.
In New Zealand we realise that there is a great urgency to change for all the reasons that will be familiar to those working in health internationally. Even as we make progress in New Zealand, we continue to look for fresh, new ideas. We are open to sharing ideas with our colleagues in Europe - and else where. In this regard the collaboration between the Ministry of Health and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise is an important partnership to help us reach out and share our learnings and innovations globally.
Thank you!
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About NZTE
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is the New Zealand government's national economic development agency and the gateway to New Zealand business opportunities.
Through its global network of offices, NZTE works to connect international businesses and investors with New Zealand business opportunities. New Zealand encourages direct investment by, and trade with, international companies and business people, particularly those that result in the creation of new ventures, the relocation of existing operations to New Zealand, and strategic partnerships or joint ventures with New Zealand companies.
The focus is on New Zealand businesses and industry sectors with high growth potential. For more information please visit http://www.newzealand.com/business.
About Chai Chuah
Chai Chuah is National Director of the National Health Board Business Unit of the New Zealand Ministry of Health.
The NHB Business Unit is central to the new model for planning and funding of health services and changes that will have an emphasis on:
- Stronger clinical leadership
- Improving quality and safety
- Higher service performance
- Improved regional and national decision making, and
- Reducing administrative cost and waste
Before joining the Ministry, Chai was Chief Executive of Hutt Valley District Health Board - a position he held since 2002.