Fragmented IT contributes to Health NZ fiscal woes

NEWS – eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Fragmented IT systems have been identified as a contributor to the fiscal situation of Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, which is overspending by around $130 million a month.

Health Minister Shane Reti says that without urgent action this will lead to an estimated deficit of $1.4 billion by the end of 2024/25. In response, he has replaced the organisation’s board with a commissioner, former chair Lester Levy.

A July Cabinet paper ‘Improving the financial performance of Health New Zealand’ identifies fragmented administrative data systems as a key contributor to the current fiscal situation as they “were unable to identify risk and provide early warning for the impending financial issues until they were already embedded.”

The paper says the causes of issues at Health NZ are deep and reflect a number of structural and cultural matters, including “poor state, fragmented IT”.

“Health NZ inherited a range of disparate data and management systems (such as payroll) from district health boards, many of which rely on legacy platforms that are no longer effectively supported. While the task of modernising this data infrastructure is very significant, there has been relatively limited progress in the past two years,” it says.

To read more, click HERE.