In a year of huge transition for eHealth and the healthcare system in general in New Zealand, nothing seemed to capture the attention of readers this year more than news of the national electronic health record. As it's still not certain exactly how the single EHR will be built – or how much it is going to cost – it was no surprise to see that our top story for 2016 had those very elements in the headline, with the mandatory allusion to LOTR of course.

The year in eHealth actually kicked off in the primary care sector with the first nine practices signing up to the Wellington region Health Care Homes program. Developed by Capital & Coast DHB in partnership with Compass Health, Cosine, Well Health and Ora Toa PHOs, the wider Welly region has joined Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury in trying out the model, which promises to make better use of existing technology to better care for those with long-term conditions.