it’s sitting in isolated silos.We aim to pull it together to give people access so they can run their own reports.” Enabling the future The Spend Data Repository is initially focused on medical devices, of which there an estimated 250,000 in the sector. vanWyk says this build provides the foundation to expand the scope to other areas, and they are already inputting all spend data from the districts. Work has moved so rapidly that NZHP is already looking to assess what additional categories will be added to the Health System Catalogue. “The ability to share data without having to build data pipelines makes the solution really beneficial as we aim to become a ‘one stop shop’ for any financial procurement or inventory information to the sector.” Enabling self-service TeWhatu Ora - New Zealand Health Partnerships sees itself as the custodians of health data related to finance procurement, inventory and supply chain. Salzmann says by providing secure and reliable data, the organisation can enable users to innovate across the sector. The organisation is also embarking on a proof of concept around machine learning. One of the challenges facing the sector is demand forecasting
for medical devices or medical equipment on the hospital wards, which currently requires physical counting of what is on the shelves. The proof of concept will use key pieces of information – such as ward occupancy, patient turnaround or staffing levels – to determine what inventory levels are needed. Salzmann says this could potentially apply to around half of all devices and equipment. “You can predict the requirements of a ward based on historical data based on machine learning,” he says. “This means you no longer have to cycle count every day, but may just once a month, which releases resource to do other work. “And that’s just the beginning as from that point onwards, the world’s your oyster in terms of what you can do with the data. vanWyk says, “it is incremental wins and gains that actually make a huge difference. “Whatever we do, we always aim to make life easier for users and to help improve patient experiences – enabling better decision making through data insights.” *case study completed in 2022 when NZHP was an ‘entity’ of Te Whatu Ora, it has since become part of the national organisation.
“You can predict the requirements of a ward based on historical data based on machine learning.”
Erik Salzmann,TeWhatu Ora - NZ Health Partnerships Solutions Architect
HEALTHCARE ANALYTICS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND | A HINZ SPECIAL REPORT | 17
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