The final report of the New Zealand Health and Disability System review makes clear the vision for a ‘data-driven, digitally-enabled ecosystem’ in New Zealand and the need for ‘technologies to support decision-making and innovation’ to achieve this. While many decision-support tools are in use across the health sector, we are unaware of the specific algorithms used and who is using them, their implementation and governance, or the practical lessons learned from implementing those algorithms.

This research project, which was completed in December 2021 and supported by Precision Driven Health, focused on predictive algorithms aligning with the approach in ‘Government Use of Artificial Intelligence in New Zealand‘. In healthcare, these predictive algorithms range from simple score-based tools for patient risk to advanced machine learning such as neural networks. This study involved in-depth interviews with 35 health sector representatives, a literature review and an online survey.

This decade, the overarching vision of a learning, adaptive health system is within our grasp, and predictive models will likely provide important insights that underpin this change. By understanding the current state, opportunities and risks, we can frame a pathway towards successful adoption.

Research team
Pieta Brown, Orion Health
Rachel Owens, Orion Health
Dr Karol Czuba
A/Prof Alain Vandal, University of Auckland

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