Waitemata DHB, Orion Health sign innovation agreement

Under a three-year innovation partnership signed between Orion Health and Waitemata DHB, North Shore Hospital’s Special Care Baby Unit and Ward 10 (Haematology) will become hubs for the development of new technology supporting healthcare delivery.

An initial focus will be on seeking to make these two wards ‘paperless’ by using a range of electronic systems to replace traditional paper-based processes. Products developed through the innovation agreement would ultimately be extended to primary care, community-based and outpatient services.

“This agreement positions Waitemata DHB as a national leader in technology adoption,” said Chief Executive Dr Dale Bramley. “One of our driving values as an organisation is to provide ‘better, best, brilliant’ care to our patients and this agreement aligns with our determination to drive better care through innovation.

“The technologies developed under this agreement will be the product of real-world testing and refinement based on the input of people at the frontline of healthcare.

“Our patients and their whanau will benefit from the new models of care that flow as a result, such as the potential for mobile devices to be used for reviewing results, entering notes and coordinating care at the bedside.”

Bramley said innovation could arise from anywhere in the organisation – hospital wards or primary care – and the partnership with Orion Health would enable improvements to existing products and the development of new products that could be made available to other DHBs.

Orion Heath CEO Ian McCrae said the company had other innovation partnerships which were extremely productive in generating new products and better health delivery and care. “Health professionals have a lot of excellent product ideas and this gives them an outlet where that creativity can be realised as products.”

McCrae said under the partnership agreement Orion Health will provide the latest versions of its software systems for the two wards as well as implementation and support. The project will be reviewed after 12 months to evaluate the processes and further developments.