New Zealand Telehealth Forum
Telehealth is the term for the use of information and communication technologies to deliver health care when patients and care providers are not in the same physical location. To be effective, telehealth relies on fast broadband internet services.
Telehealth enables health professionals to diagnose illnesses and provide treatment without being in the room with the patient. Health care-related education, research and evaluation can also take place remotely.
Telehealth will bring many benefits:
- Better, sooner, more convenient services for New Zealanders
- more flexibility for the health workforce
- ability to personalise public health messages
- provision of lower cost services.
New Zealand Telehealth Forum
The New Zealand Telehealth Forum has been established to promote the use of telehealth, and maximise the benefits of the Government's broadband programme. The National Health IT Board has funded the establishment of the forum because it recognises telehealth is an important component of an integrated model of healthcare.
Telehealth Leadership Group (TLG) - Huge response to the Expression of Interest
The Expression of Interest for the TLG is now closed. We received a huge number of excellent applications - more than 90! This has made the job of the selection panel a difficult one. The response also confirmed that we have a significant telehealth community of interest in New Zealand. We want to take advantage of this and will provide opportunities for all those interested to work with us on our action plan.
The first opportunity will be to participate in the Telehealth Symposium we are holding in conjunction with HINZ. See Upcoming Events below. If you didn't submit an application, and would still like to register your interest in working with the Forum, please contact Pat Kerr.
We'll announce the membership of the TLG once all those selected are confirmed, with the first TLG meeting being held in March.
Resources
- Telemonitoring Trials (also referred to as "Telehealth") - Read about the Whole System Demonstrator Trials UK and the Taupo Turangi Trial, NZ
- Find out when faster broadband is coming to you - www.broadband.govt.nz launched by Mnistry of Economic Development 9 November 2011
- Case Studies - New Zealand
- Buller Health Telehealth Report December 2010 (pdf, 1.91MB)
- Buller Health Telehealth Evaluation Framework December 2010 (pdf, 1.26MB)
Organisations
- Australasian Telehealth Society (ATHS) is a membership based organisation for information sharing, investigation and promotion of TeleHealth. The ATHS is for those providing healthcare over a distance in Australia and New Zealand.
Upcoming Events
- Telehealth Symposium, Auckland 22 February 2012 - a joint NZ Telehealth Forum and HINZ event. See HINZ website for programme and registration details.
Contact Us
The Interim Chair of the Forum is Malcolm Pollock, Director-Informatics for the National Institute of Health Innovation. The NHITB representative is Sadhana Maraj.
To contact the Telehealth Forum Secretariat please forward your enquiries as follows:
- Patricia Kerr, Principal Consultant for NZ Telehealth Forum, for queries on Telehealth Forum initiatives or proposal and information requests: email pat@telehealthnz.co.nz
- Terri Hawke, Project Coordinator, for administration enquiries and support: email t.hawke@auckland.ac.nz
