NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
The national service improvement and innovation directorate within Te Whatu Ora is a first for New Zealand and will enable a learning health system, driven by data, research and consumer and whānau priorities, the director of evidence, research and clinical trials says.
Robyn Whittaker (left) spoke at the Co:Lab 2023 conference last month where she said the health system has never had a national directorate focused on service improvement and innovation, but the new structure puts it “right up there at the top table.”
She said an ‘innovation funnel’ will provide standardised pathways for innovative ideas coming from all areas, including research, staff, consumers, and companies.
This will involve a ‘proof of concept’ stage, ‘proof of value’ stage and then a ‘scale up stage’ and Te Whatu Ora is working with the Consortium for Medical Device Technologies (CMDT) on developing this.