Primary Health Care Limited (PHCL) to gradually rollout Valentia Technologies’ OctansCare Digital Front Door.

Primary Healthcare Limited (PHCL), the not-for profit operator of general practices across Waikato and Taranaki, will begin controlled rollout of Valentia Technologies’ OctansCare AI-powered patient access and engagement services across some of its practices, as part of its ongoing work to explore practical ways of supporting patients and general practice teams.

The OctansCare will enable PHCL to provide around-the-clock AI-powered patient access and engagement services, giving patients more flexible ways to engage with their practice, including through AI voice services. The new capability will complement the myindici patient portal, which is already used extensively by PHCL patients.

Deputy Chief Executive, Batami Pundak, said PHCL is looking forward to the benefits the new AI-driven capability will bring for both patients and staff.

“As part of the Pinnacle network, PHCL serves as a hub for innovation and transformation. We test models of change to understand what works in real general practice settings. Implementation of OctansCare with Valentia will help us explore how AI-supported tools could improve access for patients, support our teams, and enhance patient-centred care for the communities we serve,” said Mrs Pundak.

“AI-driven digital front doors are being adopted rapidly across New Zealand primary care, and the OctansCare platform is playing a vital role in enabling practices to increase capacity, improve productivity and deliver a better user experience for patients,” said Malik Rizwan, Virtual Care Strategy Lead, Valentia Technologies.

OctansCare is designed to support healthcare organisations with intelligent patient engagement, AI-assisted reception services, digital triage, workflow automation and integration with existing digital health platforms. By enabling patients to interact with services through modern digital and voice-based channels, OctansCare helps practices manage demand more effectively while improving the overall patient journey.

This  PHCL initiative reflects the increasing role of AI-enabled tools in New Zealand’s primary care sector, where practices are seeking new ways to improve timely access, reduce administrative pressure and support sustainable models of care.