An independent report has found that Waikato District Health Board was right to end its two-year contract with US telehealth firm HealthTap, as the app proved to be a poor fit with the NZ public healthcare system, had several technological issues early on and had no interoperability with existing clinical solutions.

Waikato DHB commissioned an independent report from Ernst & Young into the SmartHealth initiative following the expenses scandal that engulfed its former CEO. The report found that SmartHealth has ended up costing $NZ25.7 million – about $8.9m more than the business case outlined – of which $15.4m went to the now dumped HealthTap app.