Hira ‘paused’ following budget recall

The project building New Zealand’s national health information platform has been put on hold following budget cuts for digital health. 

In a statement to Healthcare IT News, Michael Dreyer, director of the Digital Channels sector at Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand), confirmed that the Hira project has been suspended.

“After completing the first stage of Hira and creating a strong foundation for the project, it is now paused while we look at plans for the future.”

Hira, he said, will be part of Te Whatu Ora’s 10-year infrastructure investment plan, which is currently under development. The plan may be released by the end of the year, based on a news report. 

THE LARGER CONTEXT 

The New Zealand government recently decided to recall some NZ$300 million ($200 million) for digital health initiatives over the next four years, including Hira. This also includes funding for free telehealth services provided 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 nearly NZ$1 billion (over $600 million) in enhancing the health system’s data and digital infrastructure and capabilities. 

The digital health budget cut also comes as Te Whatu Ora decided to slow down on health ICT expansion 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 over 4,000 clinical and business applications, many of which are at or close to their end-of-life and have been incurring debts. 

“We recognise both the challenges of the different data and digital systems inherited from earlier entities, and also the high potential for digital services to improve health services delivery,” Dreyer told this publication.

The first phase of the Hira implementation concluded in June. It is now providing 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 death events. The project has also developed a connector plane for accessing Hira APIs and a developer portal for testing APIs. 

Hira has also taken initial steps to enable access to information on prescribed and dispensed medicines and primary care summaries.