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
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).
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.
The March event follows the success of the “IPS-athon”, focused on the International Patient Summary (IPS), at Digital Health Week 2023. The Connectathon will continue work on adapting the IPS to our unique cultural and health system settings to build a New Zealand Patient Summary (NZPS). The NZPS will enable consumers to tell their health stories in digital form and vastly improve continuity of care.
The event will be held at Cliftons, Queen St, Auckland, and will take place in two parts.
- Symposium, 20 March: Digital health leaders in New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific will share the importance of standardisation with FHIR®, SNOMED, and IPS to the digital health ecosystem we’re building. Our experts will explore models for increased collaboration across the region and focus on improved health equity through digital transformation.
- Connectathon, 21-22 March: Participants will choose from several topic-focused tracks – either to further develop and prove the NZPS FHIR specification, develop product integrations with our marketplace APIs, or develop interactive applications with FHIR questionnaires. There is also an education track that will explore the FHIR NZ base
This event is for health software developers, service designers, clinicians, and anyone interested in the digitalisation of our health system. All skill levels and job roles are welcome at this hands-on, participatory, and technical digital health event. Expert track leads will help guide each participant to the tracks that match their professional interests and skill level.
Attendees can choose from one of the following options:
- Day one (Symposium only)
- Days two and three (Connectathon only)
- Days one to three (Symposium & Connectathon)
Registration is free. Future Connectathons are also being planned, and details will be available over the coming months.
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…
NZ WORK GROUP NEWS:
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.
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.
As it is a ‘living’ artefact, work on the next version will commence early next year, 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.
Ngā mihi
Executive Board – HL7 New Zealand
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.
All current members are invited to attend the 2023 Annual General Meeting of HL7 New Zealand at 4pm on Thursday 23rd November.
This year’s meeting will be held virtually via ZOOM and you are requested to advise your attendance in advance – we will then send the ZOOM log in details to you 24 hours before the meeting.
Nominations are now open for TEN Board positions and must be received no later than 4pm on Wednesday 22nd November 2023.
We look forward to welcoming you on Thursday 23rd November 2023.
Agenda (link)
Previous AGM Minutes (link)
Board Nomination (link)
Proxy Form (link)
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.
NZ WORK GROUP NEWS:
We are now working towards the publication of the third version of the HL7 FHIR NZ Base Implementation Guide. This is the result of many months of diligent work by our HL7NZFHIR® Implementation Work Group, with broad sector representation.
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. Thanks to input from a broad range of stakeholders we are sure that it will continue to be a valuable resource for the local FHIR community.
Throughout October and November, the Work Group will be holding weekly, 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.
HL7 FHIR – INFORMATION SOURCES:
What is FHIR, where do I learn about FHIR and how do I start working with FHIR are probably the most frequently asked questions by newcomers to the standard. Well – the good news is that, in keeping with FHIR itself, there are numerous free-to-use artefacts. Links to a ‘starting dozen’ of these can be found in this Reference Sheet produced by HL7 NZ.
In response to questions that we receive about FHIR adoption in Aotearoa New Zealand, we also recommend these sources of information…
Kiwis on FHIR on our Web Site – all additions and updates gratefully received!
Hira Marketplace (Te Whatu Ora) includes a list of APIs for key health information services, and digital services that support or help use health information and data.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
HiNZ eHealth Webinar – FHIRing up health interoperability…
Experts from both sides of the Tasman talk about the standards that promise to lift our health systems to new levels of interoperability for joined-up care and better user experience.
FHIR has become a household name as the standard that has moved health data exchange into the modern era. HL7 FHIR Project Director Grahame Grieve will speak about the community-led effort that has produced this now iconic standard and Kate Ebrill will talk about the new Australian FHIR Accelerator.
SNOMED CT puts the ‘fruit on the tree’, as world-leading terminology services provider CSIRO describes it. SNOMED is the standard that gives meaning on digital health records and makes health data truly interoperable.
Alastair Kenworthy will present the International Patient Summary (IPS), the new standard that knits together FHIR and SNOMED that enables borderless exchange of a patient summary and tells the consumer’s health story in digital form.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Leigh Donoghue talk about the digital transformation that these developments enable.
Register here.
Digital Health Week 2023
Make sure to reserve your spot at New Zealand’s premier health information technology conference, Digital Health Week. HL7NZ and Te Whatu Ora will be hosting a pre-conference event you will want to attend: the 2-day IPS-athon on 27-28 November. The IPS-a-thon will be a hands-on opportunity to exchange the International and NZ Patient Summaries. Technical and non-technical participants equally welcome, and there will be a special track for those new to FHIR. HL7NZ will also be hosting a stand in the Exhibition Hall.
Ngā mihi
Executive Board – HL7 New Zealand
Friday 26 May 2023 – (15:00 NZST)
Joint HL7 Australia & HL7 New Zealand webinar
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.
HL7 International holds its working group meetings (WGM) three times per year. The May 2023 meeting followed a new format by including international standards and global healthcare organisations such as World Health Organisation as part of HL7’s mission to strengthen its global relevance and influence. In addition to providing up to-the-minute strategic updates, the aim of these WGMs is to provide the opportunity for work groups to meet to work on standards via the more than 40 work groups dedicated to specialised areas such security, pharmacy, and patient administration.
Friday 26 May (15:00 NZST)
1 – 1.5 hours
Agenda
- Welcome Reuben Daniels, Director, HL7 Australia
- Speakers:
- Viet Nguyen : Chief Standards Implementation Officer, HL7 International
- Peter Jordan : Affiliate Director, HL7 International
- Grahame Grieve : FHIR Product Director
- Reuben Daniels, Co-Chairs Terminology Services Management Group & Vocabulary Work Group
- John Grimes : Health Data Engineer, CSIRO
- Liam Barnes: Senior Experimental Scientist, CSIRO
- Sarah Gaunt: Senior Information Analyst at Lantana Consulting Group
- Brian Postlethwaite (TBC):
- John Carter: Chair, HL7 New Zealand
- Questions and Answers from attendees to speakers
- Close: John Carter, Chair, HL7 New Zealand
Follow us on Linkedin to get the latest update when we update more speaker information.
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/.
NZ WORK GROUP NEWS:
Towards the end of last year, we published the second version of the HL7 FHIR NZ Base Implementation Guide. This was the result of many months of diligent work by our HL7NZ FHIR® Implementation Work Group, with broad sector representation.
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.
As it is a ‘living’ artefact, work on the next version commenced last month, and the Work Group continues 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.
In response to questions we receive about FHIR adoption in Aotearoa New Zealand, we recommend these sources of information…
Kiwis on FHIR on our Web Site – all additions and updates gratefully received!
Hira Marketplace (Te Whatu Ora) includes a list of APIs for key health information services, and digital services that support or help use health information and data.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
MedInfo 2023
Join industry experts from around the world on standards, interoperability, data modelling and data access. Many of the various workshops and presentations will feature HL7® FHIR® and SNOMED CT®, New Zealand’s key standards for interoperability, and their use in the International Patient Summary. There will also be case studies around digital health design and co-design, including artificial intelligence, health equity and digital interventions. Early Bird registrations close on 14th April 2023. We hope to see as many Kiwis as possible join HL7 New Zealand at this marquee event in the international digital health calendar.
Digital Health Week 2023
Make sure to reserve your spot at New Zealand’s premier health information technology conference, Digital Health Week. HL7NZ will be presenting as part of a pre-conference workshop again this year and hosting a stand in the Exhibition Hall.
Kia ora and happy holidays 2022 from HL7 New Zealand
It’s my great pleasure to wish you a happy, peaceful and prosperous end-of-year holiday season.
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.
Here in New Zealand, we’ve been busy building and localising the FHIR artifacts needed to support our local implementers. The second iteration of the NZ FHIR Base Implementation Guide was published in the spring, and the HL7NZ FHIR Working Group is already stuck into the next release. Major FHIR implementations — live and still in the planning stage — in both the public and private sector signal that the disparate pieces of our health data ecosystem are joining up more and more each month.
Much of our momentum comes from our members, spanning public, private, and NGO enterprises. 2022 has seen the publication and updates of FHIR projects from Te Whatu Ora | Health NZ, Te Aho O Te Kahu | Cancer Control Agency, WebTools, MedTech, HealthPoint, Clanwilliam Health, and so many more. In the coming year we’ll be sharing more of these good news stories. After more than a decade of hard work by our past Chairs Peter Jordan and David Hay, it feels like we don’t really have to explain what FHIR is, what HL7 is, any longer. Instead, we get to help connect the dots so that NZ grows and keeps the workforce and the spirit of innovation that will allow continued progress on the difficult problems faced by our health system.
I feel extraordinarily privileged to follow in Peter Jordan’s footsteps as HL7NZ Board Chair. He’s built a smooth-running organisation, recruited a fantastic Board of Directors, and grown membership to its highest ever levels. Thank you for all the mahi you’ve put in! Luckily, he’s stayed on as Secretary so the sage advice he’s given me and so many in the sector will still be just a phone call away. We’ll all miss the cheery presence and seemingly effortless coordination of our past Secretary Linda McKay, who served in that role for 20 years and is moving to the next phase of her career.
On behalf of the entire HL7NZ Board, please again accept our very best wishes for you and your whānau this holiday season. I look forward to working with you in 2023.
John Carter
Chair, HL7NZ
