Orion Health has today announced it will deliver a free national solution to support scenario modelling, risk prediction, forecasting and planning throughout New Zealand’s COVID-19 response.

Accelerated to market through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration fund, the New Zealand Algorithm Hub will provide the infrastructure, tooling and resources necessary to support operational modelling and timely information dissemination to the New Zealand Government, healthcare organisations and professionals.

Orion Health will work with local and international health, research and data science communities to identify, prioritise and deploy algorithms and models that are best suited to supporting New Zealand’s pandemic response. As new algorithms and models are developed in New Zealand and internationally, this solution will enable appropriate governance and fast deployment of the latest findings from research and practice.

Genevieve Dawick, Product Director for the New Zealand Algorithm Hub, says the solution is specifically geared towards supporting New Zealand’s pandemic response.

“We’re making it easy for organisations throughout New Zealand to access information and tooling that will support effective decision making,” says Genevieve.

 Orion Health is already supporting the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) by running the daily disease spread models and reporting on scenario results. However, currently, these models are only available to be run by the immediate modelling team. The New Zealand Algorithm Hub will open up this modelling capability to a wider New Zealand audience, including the Ministry of Health, District Health Boards and other healthcare professionals. As researchers and health data scientists create new models, these can be quickly and safely deployed for maximum impact.

The concept for the New Zealand Algorithm Hub was initially developed through the Precision Driven Health research partnership between Orion Health and partners. 

Kevin Ross, Director of Research at Orion Health and CEO of Precision Driven Health, says, “The missing link in health data research is often the translation from research to practice; this solution will enable that for multiple parties.”

The team is currently engaging with New Zealand’s health, government and data science communities to understand and prioritise the highest value algorithms and models for deployment.