Evaluating NZ Health Innovation Projects: eReferrals Evaluation

Abstract

The National Health IT Plan proposes an improved and rationalised health IT infrastructure for New Zealand that will ultimately support a transformed and more sustainable healthcare system. One of the core applications required by the plan is electronic referrals (eReferrals). This report provides evaluation results from comparative analysis across four eReferral implementations in New Zealand at Hutt Valley District Health Board (HVDHB), Northland DHB (NDHB), Canterbury DHB (CDHB) and the Auckland metro region. The evaluation, including this report, has been prepared by the National Institute for Health Innovation (NIHI) under commission of the National Health IT Board (NHITB). Note that this report references the reports of the three underpinning studies that had been conducted at Hutt, Northland and Canterbury. Details of the Auckland implementation are included as an appendix. This report also references the health innovation evaluation framework that was produced concurrently with the study of eReferrals. NIHI would like to record our gratitude for the cooperation of all the people who actively assisted in this review. After appropriate review, this report will bear endorsement of NHITB, will be available on the Web, and global feedback will be encouraged. Core findings which may be relevant to health IT innovators globally will be prepared for submission to peer review with academic journals.