The Government is pitching its new 10-year “digital health roadmap” as a cure-all for delays and paperwork, but many of the promises hinge on sweeping data collection, centralised patient records, and a level of system security the health sector has repeatedly failed to demonstrate.
Health Minister Simeon Brown says outdated technology is “holding the system back”.
Under the plan, a single Electronic Medical Record would follow every New Zealander through the health system, pooling information from GPs, specialists, hospitals, and remote monitoring tools.
Officials insist this data will “flow securely.” The roadmap relies heavily on large-scale sharing of sensitive medical information—raising questions about who will access it, how it will be protected, and what happens when a breach inevitably occurs. Brown alleges the 6,000 “existing digital systems” is evidence of dysfunction.
The plan promises improved outcomes, faster diagnoses, and less duplication of tests, but much of the vision depends on technologies—including AI scribes, algorithm-driven radiology triage, and remote patient monitoring—that themselves carry risks around accuracy, transparency, and data retention. While the Minister touts “stronger cybersecurity,” no details were offered about how the system will avoid the failures seen in recent high-profile public-sector breaches.
A new ‘Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health’ will coordinate investments with outside partners and AI specialists, a model the Government claims will prevent the failures of previous large-scale health IT projects.
Health New Zealand is already rolling out digitisation initiatives through its “Accelerate” programme and a new HealthX unit tasked with launching monthly “innovation projects”.
Image credit: Julien Tromeur
Don’t agree with digital records but when I use AI to ask medical questions it’s much better than a consultant.
Funny how Australia manages to have a markedly better healthcare system than ours right now, without all these Orwellian “add-ons”. Even f***ing Malta, with a population I think around 500,000, again manages to have better healthcare than us.
A simple increase in funding and a concerted effort to attract and retain medical professionals, with internationally competitive salaries, is what is required.
So once again, another fail from the globalists but really who expected more?
Regarding AI scribes, the information AI assimilates will depend on research posted online and submitted by vested interests, meaning pharmaceutical suppliers. Scientific research is held up by a two year grace period before publishing which is a long time in terms of innovation. Claims of ‘safe and effective’ may be taken as proven to be true and AI is only as good as the information fed into them. So technologists will dominate the field and as some of them are believers in the ‘Singularity’ where humans and machines integrate, the prognosis is a little alarming.
The digital id is not mainly about efficiency or patient safety it’s about infrastructure consolidation global data interoperability and conditioning citizens to except identity linked access to essential services Transparency should be demanded before such systems entrench otherwise NZ may find themselves living in a digital Cage built quietly in the name of modern health care this is what Genuine reform looks like if the Government were Genuinely prioritizing public well-being Data Sovereignty laws would Guarantee that health records can never be Commercialized or shared across boarders without explicit individual Consent Systems would be designed as federated not Centralized allowing patient side storage and Sharing on demand open source verification protocols would allow independent auditing of how identity and Data matching occurs the use of biometrics would be strictly prohibited for non medical purposes not under the banner of efficiency interoperability and Modernization under those slogan lie a far deeper motives tied to Control .
Oh look, yet another reason to stay the F away from the medical industry 😊🌈
All the better to go full analogue pt records.
Demand all correspondence outside of the apps, via email, with a no thanks to the adoption of these *effciencies*.
Explain you dont have a smart ph, and only a narrow bandwidth so cant maintain an internet connection.
But, download all your old med records first, or screenshot and save to files. That way they can’t make you book, view records, and pay on apps that can easily request your digital login. If we take the approach that a thorn in the side forces wider options for uptake, they cant funnel you in. Theres no security risk when you hold your own records offline.