Health NZ has noted that digital health organisations it does not directly fund can fall into gaps in compliance and assurance.
The issue was raised in a briefing prepared for Health Minister Simeon Brown earlier this year, ahead of a meeting with Digital Health Association (DHA) chief executive Stella Ward and chair Tony Wai.
In the recently released briefing document, seen by Pulse+IT, Health NZ told the Minister some digital health organisations, giving ManageMyHealth as an example, were not directly funded through Health NZ, “which can create compliance and assurance gaps.”
The briefing suggested the DHA could work with Health NZ and its members to help close those gaps through guidance, communities of practice and peer-led improvement.
It came as Health NZ expected cybersecurity to feature in discussions with the industry body, following recent breaches affecting digital health providers.
The briefing said the DHA was likely to raise the need to improve cybersecurity maturity across the sector, including moving beyond voluntary approaches towards clearer standards, assurance and accountability.
The DHA had called for stronger and enforceable cybersecurity standards following a patient portal incident affecting more than 120,000 New Zealanders, extended outages of critical clinical systems and other reported data breaches.
Its position included defined security expectations for systems connecting to national infrastructure, system-level certification with ongoing monitoring and transparent incident protocols.
Digital modernisation
The briefing also shows Health NZ expected the DHA to discuss delivery of the 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan and the Centre for Digital Modernisation of Health.
Health NZ said discussions about the Centre could include how industry engagement could support its delivery while aligning with Health NZ governance, standards and sequencing.
The DHA was also expected to outline how its members could support government priorities and the investment plan through innovation and capability aligned with Health NZ’s digital investment settings.
The DHA works with Health NZ to facilitate structured engagement between government and industry, including consultation on major digital initiatives and promoting the adoption of digital standards.
The briefing was prepared by Health NZ acting chief information technology officer Darren Douglass for the Minister’s 12 March meeting with the DHA.
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