HiNZ CEO Scott Arrol reflects on 25 years of HiNZ in Aotearoa and his vision for the future. From the organisation’s roots in nursing informatics to its role today as the trusted community for digital health, Scott discusses his own background in health and the evolving challenges and opportunities facing the sector. 

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of HiNZ at Digital Health Week 2025 in Ōtautahi Christchurch - register to attend online 

Sharyn MacDonald, Chief of Radiology at Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury, explores the evolving role of artificial intelligence in radiology to improve patient safety and access to care. Sharyn shares insights into how Health NZ is assessing the potential use of AI tools - from fracture detection to improving diagnostic workflows - and discusses the importance of clinician-led innovation, and ensuring safe implementation. 

Auckland GP Reza Jarral discusses his research plans after being awarded the prestigious 2025–2026 Harkness Fellowship to travel to the US and investigate how digital health tools and behavioural science can be harnessed to improve health outcomes.

He discusses how consumer technologies, such as wearables, health apps, and digital coaches, can drive behaviour change, and his hopes to translate this research into both clinical practice and national policy back in New Zealand.

Michael Dreyer, Deputy Chief Executive of Technology and Data at ACC, shares his vision for modernising ACC’s systems to better support injury prevention, rehabilitation, and client outcomes: covering everything from data sharing and privacy to the potential of AI and predictive analytics.

Te Taka Keegan, co-director Māori of the AI Institute at Waikato University, explores the intersection of Te Reo Māori, tikanga, and artificial intelligence. From training large language models to protecting Māori data sovereignty, Te Taka shares insights on how AI can be both a powerful tool and a cultural risk, and discusses the importance of Māori leadership in shaping Aotearoa’s digital future. 

Te Taka is a keynote speaker at the HiNZ Digital Health AI Summit being held on May 20-21 in Wellington, NZ.

eHealth Talk spoke to Kiwi GPs Dr Richard Medlicott and Dr Karl Cole in March 2024 when they were at the start of their journey using AI-powered medical scribes during patient consultations. One year on we check back in to hear about lessons learnt over the past 12 months and advice for other health professionals thinking of using the technology in their own practice.

This episode explores a new report from HiNZ, highlighting concerns raised in a workforce survey about digital health funding cuts and their potential consequences for patient care, as well as opportunities for targeted investment.

With guests - HiNZ acting CEO Scott Arrol and director of engagement Alex Kemp.

Find the report online 

Dr Carol McAllum, Director of Quality & Partnerships for Mercy Hospice and Palliative Medicine Specialist and Anneke Barkwith, Nurse Practitioner and founder of Hub Aged Care, discuss what holistic  palliative care entails and how these are integrated in aged care settings. Sponsored by Third Age Health. 

Nursing and Midwifery Informatics Special Interest Group executive members Emma Collins and Elf Eggimann discuss themes for the upcoming eHealth Nursing and Midwifery Workshop on Dec 3, including how to amplify the nursing and midwifery voice in digital health and turning plans into practice when it comes to deploying clinical solutions that really work for users.
See the workshop agenda online

Ministry of Health Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Martin Chadwick and co-chair of the National Allied Health Scientific and Technical Informatics Group Charlene Tan-Smith discuss themes from the upcoming eAllied Health workshop at Digital Health Week in December; turning data into meaningful information, applying AI in clinical practice and ensuring digital solutions are designed with users in mind.

Third Age Health chief executive Tony Wai discusses the use of telehealth to provide care to New Zealand’s older population, its impact on the aged care workforce and on the wider health system. 

Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora Chief Information Security Officer Sonny Taite discusses the Cybersecurity Uplift Programme, the creation of a national Security Operations Centre to monitor and respond to security events, and why Health NZ was not significantly impacted by the July CrowdStrike outage.   

Rogan Clarke, director of integration and delivery at Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora, discusses his vision for integration across the health sector, key milestones on that journey and the collaboration needed to achieve it. 

Michael Dreyer, director sector digital channels at Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora discusses his team's key delivery milestones so far, what's coming next, and their approach to developing solutions for the health sector.

Third Age Health clinical change lead Lucy Wu and medical director Dr Diane Leach discuss the roles of GPs and nurse practitioners in aged care, the current challenges and opportunities in the sector, and the role of technology in reducing some of the workload and administrative burden for clinicians.

This episode of eHealth Talk NZ is the audio recording of a webinar HiNZ hosted on exploring Maori and Pacific led  digital health. HiNZ media editor Rebecca McBeth is joined by 4 panellists; Dr Mataroria Lyndon, Tend Health Co-Founder and Senior Lecturer in Medical Education, Auckland University; Tanith Petersen, Chief Operating Officer, He Waka Tapu; Dr Amio Matenga Ikihele, General Manager Community, Research, Learning, Moana Connect; and Tim Corbett, CEO at HiNZ.

Director Strategy and Investment Darren Douglass discusses his role and team within data and digital at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, current focus areas of work and the benefits of a national approach while retaining local skills and relationships.

College of Nurses Aotearoa member and clinical director at Orion Health Carey Campbell discusses the arrival of Generative AI, the potential benefits of adopting AI tools in nursing and how nurses can prepare and get involved in discussions to shape the future in this space.

Lara Hopley, chief clinical informatics officer (CCIO) Health NZ Te Whatu Ora, discusses the role of clinical informaticians, building her national team and key milestones on the clinical informatics work plan.

Chief data officer at Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora Kari Jones discusses her new role and national team, what a data driven organisation looks like and key milestones on that journey for Health NZ.

Health NZ Te Whatu Ora Manager Technology Enablers Gerard Keenan discusses what the Hira programme has delivered so far and what those data and digital foundations will enable in the future.

Workday NZ sales director Jonathan Brabant discusses global trends in human resource management and how a unified platform can help to attract, retain and develop the health sector's most important asset - people.  Also, how AI and ML is built into the core of the Workday platform to further unleash the power of people.

GPs and primary healthcare leaders Dr Karl Cole and Dr Richard Medlicott speak about their use of a Generative AI tool to help create patient notes: how it is saving them time, and means they can look their patients in the eye again.

Professor Jenny Carryer from Massey University's School of Nursing discusses her recent inaugural address: Reimagining Nursing Through a Feminist Lens - reflecting on her experience of nursing as a profession where you have to struggle constantly for recognition and respect, and why it is important for nurses to be involved in leadership, decision-making and policy development.

Psoda chief everything officer Bruce Aylward discusses how portfolio prioritisation tools provide clarity and transparency in order to pick the right initiatives to do at the right time, as well as understand the risks and benefits of each investment before starting work. Also, how a digital tool helps to deliver those initiatives, reducing the risk of failure.