National eReferrals Evaluation: Findings for the Canterbury Initiative

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 results from the third of fourth in a series of evaluations of eReferral implementations in New Zealand. 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). NIHI would like to record our gratitude for the cooperation of all the people who actively assisted in this review. Direct quotations from participants are included in the report to support its conclusions where possible and are included with permission of the participants. Core findings which may be relevant to health IT innovators globally will be prepared for submission to peer review with an academic journal. Note that this evaluation, including its reporting and results dissemination, has been conducted in accordance with the Framework for Health IT Evaluation that has been developed by NIHI in parallel to conduct of these eReferral evaluations.