Pharmaceutical and diagnostics firm Roche New Zealand is funding the roll out of the Celo secure messaging app to up to 250 cancer researchers and clinicians as part of the Smart Oncology Network (SONet) project, allowing them to communicate with each other, send documents and images, and share patient details within a secure, encrypted, digital network.

A collaboration between Roche, Celo and the New Zealand Society for Oncology (NZSO), SONet is aimed at improving oncology best practice and allowing multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate without interrupting clinical workflow.

Celo supplies healthcare-compliant secure messaging available on Android and iOS devices and desktops. Users can chat, consent and capture clinical images, and message each other from their mobile devices with patient information in a protected manner. All patient-related information can be added to electronic medical records through custom APIs.