IT services not-for-profit Patients First has sold its IT development arm Conporto Health and is stepping back from commercial activities after receiving funding from the Ministry of Health that will allow it to concentrate on managing the GP2GP service.

First set up by the ministry in association with shareholders the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and General Practice NZ, Patients First worked with practice management system vendors and secure messaging service HealthLink to develop GP2GP, which enables medical records to be electronically transferred from one GP to another.