Canterbury DHB implements world-leading community medication management program

The Customer

With over 540,000 people living in the Canterbury region, Canterbury District Health Board is New Zealand’s second largest DHB.

Canterbury DHB is the main planner and funder of health services in Canterbury; a tertiary provider of hospital and specialist services for the Canterbury population, as well as some specialist services for people living elsewhere in New Zealand. 

Canterbury DHB’s vision is of an integrated health system that keeps people healthy and well in their own homes, providing the right care and support, to the right person, at the right time and in the right place.

The Challenge

Having patients actively engaged in their healthcare at home is becoming increasingly important due to the rise of chronic diseases and escalating health costs.

The least effective (and most expensive) medication is the one the patient is prescribed, but not taking. Empowering patients to understand what medications they should be taking, what they are for, and when and how to take them is a significant enabler for medication adherence and, consequently, patient wellness.

Community pharmacists in Canterbury are funded to perform Medicines Use Reviews (MUR) and Medicines Therapy Assessments (MTA) to improve medication adherence & optimise prescribed medications for patients in the region. They required the quick deployment of a solution that facilitated the enrolment and completion of a comprehensive medicines-focused review for patients. The solution needed to include an automated task generation that guided the user through a workflow to capture information, document recommendations and report back to the primary clinician.