HL7NZ is the New Zealand Affiliate of Health Level Seven International (HL7®), the global developer of standards for the interoperability of health information technology with members in over 55 countries.
HL7NZ is a ‘Not for Profit’ incorporated society focused on current and emerging HL7® standards, with strong relationships to all other related healthcare IT standards used in New Zealand.
End of Year Message from HL7 New Zealand
Kia ora koutou,
As 2024 reaches a close, I want to take a moment to reflect on the past year and extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our members. It’s been a year of challenges, progress, and collaboration as we continue to shape the future of health data interoperability in New Zealand.
This year, New Zealand’s Government made significant cuts and changes to the health system, including deep cuts to digital health initiatives such as Hira. These cuts have slowed progress toward greater interoperability and IT modernisation, presenting hurdles for us all.
However, these challenges also compel us to reconnect with our core values. We develop and promote HL7 standards because standards save money, improve care, and empower patients, providers, and digital health suppliers. Even in times of constraint, bringing these principles to life remains vital to the future of our health system. Together, we can navigate the current difficulties and demonstrate how interoperability fosters efficiency, equity, and better outcomes for all.
In March 2024, we hosted a Symposium and Connectathon in Auckland, which drew over 100 participants for a highly successful two-day event. With different tracks showcasing the FHIR initiatives underway at Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora, the event highlighted the incredible potential of FHIR to transform healthcare delivery. We are deeply grateful for the strong support from Health NZ in making this event possible. The countries that are succeeding at modernising and innovating with FHIR are those with strong government support, and this event was a prime example of what we can achieve with collaborative efforts.
In early December, we hosted a FHIR Workshop and Connectathon at Digital Health Week in Hamilton. While the crowds were smaller and participation from Health NZ was more limited, the attendees were highly engaged, benefiting from more interactive and tailored sessions with our expert presenters and track leads. The day’s sessions provided valuable insights and practical hands-on experiences, reaffirming the importance of bringing people together to advance the adoption of HL7 standards in New Zealand.
Looking ahead, we are excited to announce the March 2025 FHIR Symposium and Connectathon, held jointly with our Australian colleagues. This two-day event will feature:
- Day 1: A Symposium with presentations from government and industry leaders, offering insights into FHIR’s latest applications and advancements. The Symposium will be accessible virtually, allowing wide participation.
- Day 2: An in-person Connectathon in Auckland, where attendees can showcase or test their FHIR solutions and products in a collaborative setting.
If you have a FHIR solution or product you’d like to showcase or test at the Connectathon, we encourage you to get in touch!
We’re also pleased to announce the release of the NZ Base FHIR Implementation Guide version 3.0.1, now available at https://fhir.org.nz/ig/base/index.html. This version includes several technical corrections and is preferred over the earlier version 3.0.0.
For our members, discounted educational offerings remain an important benefit. We encourage you to explore the HL7 International Education Calendar, which is available to view or download at https://www.hl7.org/training/calendar.cfm. This comprehensive resource offers a wide range of courses and materials to help you whether you’re just starting out, looking to expand your knowledge, or seeking to keep up with the latest HL7 developments.
Thank you for your dedication, contributions, and commitment to our shared vision. As we step into 2025, I look forward to continuing our work together to drive innovation and improve health outcomes across New Zealand.
Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a successful new year!
John S. Carter
Chair, HL7 New Zealand
2024 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting
The 2024 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 10th October at 3:30pm virtually via ZOOM. All members of the previous board were re-elected.
The Chairman and Treasurer Annual Reports, presented to the Meeting, can be found in the minutes
At the first meeting of the new Board, held directly afterwards, the following officers were unanimously elected for two-year terms up to the end of September 2026: John Carter (Chair) and Peter Jordan (Secretary). Peter Sergent(Vice-Chair) and David Moorhouse (Treasurer) will continue in their roles until the end of September 2025, having been elected to serve two-year terms following the 2023 AGM.
The meeting passed a motion to adopt a new Constitution that meets the new compliance requirements of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. Among other things, this will require us to hold future AGMs by September 30th, i.e. within 6 months of the end of our Financial Year (March 31st).
“Ring of FHIR®” Connectathon 20-22 March 2024
What: Interoperability Symposium & Connectathon
When: Wednesday 20 March 2024, 9:00 am – Friday 22 March 2024, 4:30 pm
Where: Level 4/45 Queen Street, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Registrations are open for a Connectathon being run by Te Whatu Ora, HISO and HL7NZ in Auckland from 20-22 March 2024. The Connectathon will run in parallel to a companion event in Australia.
For more information see the event page.
HL7 New Zealand News – Summer 2023
We hope that this message finds you well and looking forward to the upcoming summer break. We enjoyed meeting with many of you at last week’s Digital Health Week NZ and were thrilled that 120 people attended the inaugural NZ IPS-athon during which we created a patient summary for ePatient Iosefa so he can travel with his health information between Samoa and NZ.
This sold-out event was so successful, that a follow-up event has been scheduled to be held the week of March 18 next year. Look out for further details early in the New Year. In the meantime, we have some more exciting news to share with the sector…
We have just published the third version of the HL7 FHIR NZ Base Implementation Guide. This is the result of many months of diligent work by our HL7NZ FHIR® Implementation Work Group, with broad sector representation, and passed the required Membership Ballot, held last month, with flying colours.
For details: HL7 New Zealand News – Summer 2023
2023 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting
The 2023 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 23rd November at 4:00pm virtually via ZOOM. Eight members of the previous board were re-elected along with new member Prashanth Koval (Medtech Global).
The Chairman and Treasurer Annual Reports, presented to the Meeting, can be found in the minutes
At the first meeting of the new Board, held directly afterwards, the following officers were unanimously elected for two-year terms up to November 2025: Peter Sergent (Vice-Chair) and David Moorhouse (Treasurer). John Carter (Chair) and Peter Jordan (Secretary) will continue in their roles until November 2024, having been elected to serve two-year terms in November 2022.
HL7 New Zealand News – Spring 2023
We hope that this message finds you well and handling the various climatic challenges thrown at us by the El Nino weather system! Spring is traditionally the busiest time of year for our Affiliate and this year is no exception as the build up to Digital Health Week and our Annual General Meeting commences. We also have some important news from our FHIR Implementation Work Group and an exciting Webinar that HiNZ will be hosting on Wednesday, 18th October.
For details: HL7 New Zealand News – Spring 2023
Joint HL7 Australia & HL7 New Zealand webinar – Friday 26 May 2023 – (15:00 NZST)
The purpose of this free webinar is for HL7 AU & NZ members and interested individuals to hear from the Australian and New Zealand delegates attending the 7-12 May 2023 HL7 International Working Group Meeting in USA.
We are also delighted to welcome again Viet Nguyen, HL7 International Chief Standards Implementation Officer on the panel.
For details: Australian & New Zealand experiences of the May 2023 HL7 International WGM in New Orleans, USA
Save this webinar link into your calendar.
International News
The latest version of the HL7 FHIR standard (R5) was published on March 28th. Although it contains no new normative content, and is technically a trial release, there are a significant number of new resources (giving an overall total of 158) and the maturity level of many of the most-commonly used resources has increased. We would be happy to discuss the potential use of this new release within New Zealand with potential implementers as well as receiving feedback from the broader community on the roadmap for the next major release (R6).
For those continuing to use Release 4, please note that version of the specification is now available at http://hl7.org/fhir/R4/. The R4B sub release can be found at http://hl7.org/fhir/R4B/.
Chairman’s Xmas Message 2022
Christmas is almost here! As your newly elected HL7NZ Board Chair, I’ve been doing more than my usual share of reflecting on the year just wrapping up and the one about to begin. Clearly, we live in fast-moving times for health information standards development and implementation. HL7 FHIR is really taking off as the new lingua franca for sharing clinical, financial, and administrative data around the sector. Its importance has been recognised by many governments including our own, by vendors large and small, and by the thousands of implementers who contribute to the standard’s ongoing development. And FHIR isn’t even done yet! Version 5 is in the balloting process, and it will be a few more years before we see Version 6. All going well, I think we can expect FHIR Version 6 to really be ‘done’.
I got to attend the HL7 International Working Group meeting in Baltimore last September. I saw an organisation revitalised by the return to in-person meetings, the election of a new slate of directors bringing fresh ideas, and the growing importance of FHIR Accelerators, where like-minded stakeholders work together (and provide the necessary funding) to solve real-world problems using FHIR. Importantly for us in NZ, HL7 International has expanded its Board to create new seats for non-US members. This will help ensure that the group’s mission and our needs as Affiliates don’t get lost behind the sheer size of the US contingent.
To read more: go to the news post “Charman’s Xmas Message”
2022 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting
The 2022 HL7 New Zealand Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 17thNovember at 3:00pm virtually via ZOOM. Six members of the previous board were re-elected along with new members Ryl Jensen (Digital Health Association) and Chris Royle (Dedalus).
The outgoing Board Members – who voluntarily stepped down after notable contributions – were Linda McKay (Secretary), Anna Marie Scroggins and Gordon Inkson. Linda, who has also been our super-efficient administrator for the past 20 years, will be assisting her replacement(s) for a while before enjoying a well-earned retirement.
The Chairman’s and Treasurer’s Annual Reports, presented to the Meeting, can be found in the minutes
At the first meeting of the new Board, held directly afterwards, the following officers were unanimously elected for two-year terms up to November 2024: John Carter (Chair) and Peter Jordan (Secretary). Peter Sergent (Vice Chair) and David Moorhouse (Treasurer) will continue in their roles until November 2023, having been elected to serve two-year terms in November 2021.
NZ Work Group News
We have just published the second version of the HL7 FHIR NZ Base Implementation Guide. This is the result of many months of diligent work by our HL7NZ FHIR® Implementation Work Group, with broad sector representation, and passed the required Membership Ballot, held last month, with flying colours.
This Guide contains the base FHIR implementation rules for New Zealand (Extensions, Profiles Identifiers, and Terminologies). It is an ‘abstract’ artefact from which all other FHIR Implementation Guides in New Zealand may be derived, and we hope that it will continue to be a valuable resource for the local FHIR community.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to our members at Spark Health for kindly hosting the Guide.
HL7 International Courses to learn FHIR
Congratulations to our Matt de Haan, Senior Developer at HL7NZ Member Webtools, for recently completing the six-week FHIR Intermediate Course. This course is designed for those already familiar with FHIR and want to dive deeper, building their knowledge of what is required to use the standard for real world projects. Matt describes his overall views of the course in a Webtools Blog Entry. We encourage anyone who wishes to learn more about FHIR to consider taking one of the HL7 International Courses. Further details can be found here. HL7 New Zealand Members receive generous discounts on all of these courses.
Winter 2022 Update
In our last update, we provided a basic outline of the agreed release plan for the next two major versions of HL7 FHIR. We can now announce that a new revision of the current R4 version (R4B) has been published and is now the current version of the Standard available at http://hl7.org/fhir. A full explanation of R4B and the changes from R4 can be viewed here.
April 2022 Update
In our last update, we invited feedback on HL7 International’s roadmap for FHIR and are now able to provide a basic outline of the agreed release plan:
- R5 – estimated publication in Q1 2023 – will be a ‘Trial Use’ version with no new normative content
- R6 – estimated publication in Q1 2026 – will be a major release with additional normative content
This effectively means that all new and changed content in R5 will be potentially subject to change, however all the existing normative content in R4 remains as such. Our expectation is that New Zealand will continue to use R4 for the foreseeable future, but we will provide help to any members wishing to add new elements, to existing resources, by way of extensions.
HL7® FHIR® NZ Base Implementation Guide Published
We have just published the first version of the HL7 FHIR NZ Base Implementation Guide. This is the result of many months of diligent work by our HL7NZ FHIR® Implementation Work Group, with broad sector representation, and passed the required Membership Ballot, held last month, with flying colours. This Guide contains the base FHIR implementation rules for New Zealand (exclusively extensions, identifiers, and terminologies in this version). It is an ‘abstract’ artefact from which all other FHIR Implementation Guides in New Zealand may be derived, and we hope that it will be a valuable resource for the local FHIR community.
As it is a ‘living’ artefact, work on the next version will commence later this month, and the Work Group will continue to hold regular, one-hour meetings on Fridays at 12:00pm. All interested parties are welcome to attend these meetings – further details are available on our Web Site.
October 2021 News
We are delighted to announce that an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Health Information Standards Organisation (HISO) was signed on 1st October 2021. The MoU exists to recognise the respective roles of both organisations and the ways in which they can work together to use standards for the good of interoperability in the New Zealand health and disability system, and to play our part in the international standards community,
Congratulations to HL7 New Zealand Chair Peter Jordan for being re-elected as an Affiliate Director on the HL7 International Board for a further two-year term. Peter has also been elected, as an Affiliate Representative, to the recently formed HL7 International Terminology Services Management Group.
Winter 2021 Update
The past few months have been a busy period in the world of HL7 Standards Development. HL7 International recently held its May Working Group Meeting and 27th FHIR Connectathon. These events were attended by a combined total of over 1,000 worldwide participants but, due to COVID-19, the location was, once again, the virtual Whova platform.
Two new versions of the FHIR Standard have gone to ballot – R4B (a sub-version of R4 containing new content and non-breaking changes) and the first draft of R5. While we expect that R4B will be adopted in New Zealand fairly swiftly, the final version of R5 is unlikely to be published until well into 2022 and its implementation will require broad consensus among the local community.
Further updates on HL7 International activity can be found in the May 2021 Edition of HL7 International News and the HL7 International Annual Report. The later focuses on Re-Envisioning HL7 – an initiative designed to ensure that the organisation remains focused, agile, globally-relevant, community-oriented and sustainable.
Locally, the HL7NZ FHIR® Implementation Work Group continues to work on the Base NZ FHIR Implementation Guide. This Group holds fortnightly, one-hour meetings on Fridays at 12:00pm with the aim of balloting and publishing a first version by the end of Q3 this year. All interested parties are welcome to attend these meetings – further details are available here. With the allocation of funding to the National Health Information Platform (nHIP/HIRA) in the recent budget, this work will produce a valuable resource for that project.
This month, we are also planning to resume our series of one-hour lunchtime webinars on topics relating to the implementation of FHIR® with a presentation from Medtech Global on their FHIR Platform ALEX. Further details will be available shortly.
Autumn 2021 Update
The Board of HL7 New Zealand (HL7NZ) recently held its annual face-to-face meeting at the offices of the Clanwilliam Group in Auckland to determine our main areas of focus for the coming year. Agreed-upon goals are to produce a Base FHIR Implementation Guide for New Zealand, further FHIR-related education and grow our community of members and partners.
The HL7NZ FHIR Implementation Work Group held its first meeting of the year on February 19th to re-commence work on the Base Implementation Guide. The Group will now hold fortnightly, one-hour meetings via ZOOM on Fridays at 12:00pm with the aim of balloting and publishing the first version by the end of Q3 this year. All interested parties are welcome to attend these meetings – further details are available here.
Christmas Message from HL7NZ 2020
At the end of what might best be described as a challenging year for everyone, I sense that most of us are now looking forward to the upcoming break with a greater sense of relief than ever! Fortunately, thanks to world-class governance and our advantages of location and size, New Zealand is in a better position than almost any other country to enjoy the holiday season.
For this HL7 Affiliate, the year has concluded on an optimistic and positive note. Our Membership continues to grow as more and more organisations, in all parts of the Sector, begin to implement HL7® FHIR® R4; following the clear direction provided by the Ministry of Health and initiatives from key members of the application supplier market. Together, we have the basis of a community that can provide a conformant and consistent implementation of FHIR that will facilitate interoperable information exchange as a means of improving healthcare outcomes.
Naturally, we have missed meeting our members in person, but virtual communication platforms have enabled us to maintain regular contacts with the local community. Internationally, this has been far more of a challenge: for more about this, and a longer account of 2020 – as viewed by HL7 New Zealand – I refer you to my recent Chairman’s Report to the HL7 NZ AGM.
Looking forward to the New Year, we are planning to resume our series of monthly, ‘NZ on FHIR Webinars’ in February and are seeking suggestions for topics. In particular, we invite those who are developing FHIR APIs to present their work to our Membership as a whole. We also encourage local implementers to participate in the worldwide FHIR community on Zulip which includes a stream dedicated to New Zealand.
Finally, I would like to extend sincere thanks to all our members and other industry partners for their support and engagement in the past year and I hope that you and your families enjoy a well-earned Christmas and New Year break within the relatively safe confines of beautiful Aotearoa New Zealand.
Peter Jordan, Chairman HL7 New Zealand
HL7 New Zealand – Annual General Meeting 2020 Report
The 2020 Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 26th November at 3:00pm at the offices of the Clanwilliam Group in Auckland. Eight members of the previous Board Members were re-elected along with Derek Buchanan, Michael Hosking, Anna-Marie Scroggins (Health Alliance) and Matt Valentine. The outgoing Board Members – who all voluntarily stepped down after huge contributions – were Karen Blake (Health Alliance), Martin Entwistle, David Fallas and David Hay (Chair Emeritus).
The Chairman’s Annual Report, presented to the Meeting, can be found here.
At the first meeting of the new Board, held directly afterwards, the following officers were unanimously elected for two-year terms: Peter Jordan (Chair) and Linda McKay (Secretary). Peter Sergent (Vice Chair) and David Moorhouse (Treasurer) will continue to serve in their current positions having been elected for two-year terms in November 2019.
HL7 New Zealand Signs MoU With HISO
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Health Information Standards Organisation (HISO) and HL7 New Zealand (HL7NZ) was signed on 5th November 2020. The MoU exists to recognise the respective roles of both organisations and the ways in which they can work together to use standards for the good of interoperability in the New Zealand health and disability system, and to play our part in the international standards community.
HL7NZ Webinar – HL7® FHIR® – Foundation Topics for Non-Developers
Many thanks to those of you who attended this Webinar on July 14th. We hope that you found it to be useful; certainly, we have received some positive feedback from participants. For those wishing to explore links in the presented material, or who were unable to attend the presentation can be viewed here.
This was the first in a series of Webinars that we are planning to present around HL7 FHIR Implementation in New Zealand, so please look out for related emails in the coming weeks. The next session will probably focus on extensions to FHIR for local use; however, we would welcome any suggestions from Members as to any future topics that they would like us to cover and, in general, as to other ways in which the FHIR Community in New Zealand might collaborate.
HL7 New Zealand Executive Board
HL7 NZ mid-year seminar 2020 – Via WEBINAR
Many thanks to everyone who attended this Webinar on April 28th, we hope that you found it an informative and enjoyable event.
All the presentations are now available for you to download and view at your leisure. The last two hours of the event can also be viewed here.
We are hoping to offer further Webinars in the coming months and would be delighted to hear suggestions as to the topics that you would like us to present.
HL7 Sydney 2020 International Conference
& Working Grouping Meeting
Sunday – Friday, February 2-7, 2020 Sydney, Australia
Official event site: hl7.sydney
Report from our attendees was published on the HL7 WGM Reports page.
Our Chair Peter Jordan provided regular updates of this event. Read here.
Highlights from 2019
Chairman’s Christmas Message 2019
HL7NZ 25th Anniversary Award was presented to Sysmex New Zealand as part of the Digital Health Week which took place at Claudelands Events Centre in Hamilton 19-22 November. HL7 standards have been used in New Zealand for 25 years and throughout that period, Sysmex New Zealand has consistently implemented these standards in their products, evangelised HL7 standards in the broader New Zealand digital health community and offered continuous support for the local HL7 Affiliate – known, since 2004, as HL7 New Zealand.
HL7NZ held its Mid-Year Seminar on 19 June with an excellent attendance…read post seminar report here
International News… Announcements from the Atlanta WGM
HL7 New Zealand is pleased to announce that one of its founding members, Martin Entwistle, has been elected as a Fellow of HL7® International in recognition of his outstanding commitment and sustained contribution to HL7 International over a fifteen-year period. Martin was inducted into the HL7 Fellows Programme at September’s Working Group Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Also announced at this meeting was the result of recent elections held for the HL7 International Board of Directors and we’re delighted to report that HL7 New Zealand Chair, Peter Jordan was elected to the position of Affiliate Director. Peter will become the first New Zealander to be represented on this Board when he commences a two year term on January 1st, 2020.
Further details of the Working Group Meeting, attended by a record number of 778 participants, can be found on the HL7NZ Web Site.
More Information on HL7NZ activities
Need more information or have questions you want answered, email us at admin@hl7.org.nz.
