Despite Health New Zealand – Tu Whatu Ora’s horror year, there some good news stories in the top 10 most read stories on Pulse+IT. The new Dunedin Hospital’s IT plans were of interest, particularly the best of breed approach it has taken for patient flow and wayfinding.

An artificial intelligence-assisted clinical coding pilot for hospital admissions was big, as was our story on digital assistance to do the heavy lifting for GP inboxes. There were good news stories on the NZ Patient Summary and the digital modernisation program.

But it was budget cuts, the “disestablishment” of chief of data and digital Leigh Donoghue’s role and an indefinite pause on the Hira program that caught a lot of attention. It was a big break from last year’s hot top 10, which by contrast was positively glowing with optimism.

1. Health NZ Data and Digital boss axed, $100m savings targeted

2. Health Minister warned of major risks from funding cuts before budget

3. New Zealand’s new My Health Record to align with NZ Patient Summary

4. Medtech alleges Valentia wrongly taking staff passwords, home addresses

5. Seamless patient journey at heart of new Dunedin Hospital’s digital project

6. Te Whatu Ora to pilot AI-assisted clinical coding for hospital admissions project

7. RPA-powered digital assistants to lighten GP workloads

8. NZ Health Minister confirms indefinite pause on Hira health information platform

9. New Dunedin Hospital digital upgrade “need only pass opening day test”

10. Tu Whatu Ora to simplify and standardise “ugly baby” in digital modernisation program