Pulsara Blog

In April of 2021, New Zealand Health Minister Andrew Little announced plans to abolish the 20 district health boards (DHBs) and replace them instead with a single organization called Health New Zealand, which will be responsible for hospitals across the country. 

The unexpected announcement was a major indicator of changes to come in New Zealand's health system. As the system reforms its organizational and decision-making structure, they are also looking for a solution to a fragmented data system in health IT. 

New Zealand has struggled with a fragmented process for transmitting patient data for many years. Current processes don't allow for the seamless, secure transmission of patient data between facilities.

Breakdowns and bottlenecks in healthcare communication systems frequently cause a myriad of delays in patient care. Legacy systems like radios, pagers, fax machines, and multiple phone calls connect clinicians but aren't always able to efficiently get the right message to the right person at the right time. Combined with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, it's clear that our current systems of communication need to be reimagined. Healthcare officials must begin to think differently. 

Your acute care, collaboration, and coordination solution needs to be scalable and flexible, enabling you to adapt quickly to the dynamic needs of patients and clinicians—and span across all organizations involved in patient care. By replacing legacy systems with one solution that covers the entire care continuum, health providers can achieve reduced treatment times, conserve resources, and improve the lives of both patients and caregivers.

When: The evening of April 27 in the USA; 11 AM on the 28th in New South Wales, Australia

Cost: FREE

Registration: Click here to register

Read on for further details!

When COVID-19 spread globally last March, New Zealand reacted quickly. In fact, their shut down was so effective that they were able to have a much shorter period of quarantine than most other countries. They quickly mobilized technology to help pivot and shift toward virtual appointments, utilizing telehealth to help manage patients’ needs.

Though brief, this period still has New Zealand experts looking to the future of health—a future which might just lie in the more strategic use of infrastructure and technology.

Last month, Ambulance Tasmania was rocked by the news that a major data breach exposed over two months of records of patients’ sensitive data.

On January 8th, the personal details of every patient who called an ambulance between November 2020 and mid-January 2021 were discovered online. The website’s administrator posted live updates every time paramedics were dispatched, until the webpage was shut down in mid-January. Sensitive health information exposed on the website included patients’ personal details, gender, age, condition, HIV status, and even the address of the incident. Tasmanian officials expressed concern, outrage, and vows to get to the bottom of the matter.

Where did the breach come from?

Pagers.