Recapping the 2015 HiNZ Conference with Stephen Murray

The HiNZ (Health Informatics New Zealand) Conference was held on October 19-22, bringing together industry leaders and influential figures from the public and private sectors to present innovative healthcare solutions and discuss the future of telehealth in New Zealand.

Tunstall’s own Stephen Murray, General Manager for New Zealand and our Asia Pacific Business Development Manager and Corporate Development Manager, Lisa Capamagian, travelled down to Christchurch to represent Tunstall.

About the conference

Hosted in the unique venue of Wigram Airforce Museum in Christchurch, the annual HiNZ conference invites industry representatives to explore the possibilities of health informatics.

Mr Murray, who has been a regular attendee of the HiNZ conference, believed that this year’s was the best yet. Minister for Health Jonathan Coleman was in attendance, who applauded the chosen theme for the event: Collaborate: Share. Solve. Achieve. Measure.

“For me personally, the rate at which the healthcare sector is changing is incredibly rapid, but I consider this to be a good thing,” noted Mr Murray.

He continued that the Tunstall stand had an amazing response. With the help of Adele Sekul, a clinical nurse based in our Tauranga response centre, the stand did more demonstrations than ever before.

“We had genuine engagement at the stand,” said Mr Murray. “People saw real value in the ICP telehealth system, and were amazed at how easy it was to use.”

At the conference dinner on Tuesday night, Mr Murray recalled how he was approached by people keen to see a Tunstall demonstration. There was a special interest in how we could help to improve access in rural areas. In addition, people were also impressed with the cost-efficiency of assistive technology.

“At its core, telehealth enables us to better utilise our human resources, which is incredibly important,” noted Mr Murray.

Looking to the future of connected care in New Zealand

One of the other key trends explored over the course of the Conference was the encouragement of wearable assistive technology devices. However, one of the most important facets of this branch of telehealth is the value of having a team to actually monitor and analyse the data collected by these devices.

On Thursday, Tunstall attended the Telehealth Workshop, a forum where the focus would shift to the regulatory side of proceedings. Led by Christchurch paediatrician Dr John Garrett, attendees discussed the medicolegal side of telehealth, and how security would play and ever-increasingly important role in years to come.

Security is something that is at the core of Tunstall’s offerings, as we enable our clients to have the peace of mind that their health data is secure in our servers.

Dr Garrett, who himself uses video conferencing to connect with clients on the South Island’s West Coast, pushed the boundaries and challenged the invitees’ understanding of telehealth.

“I think there’s going to be a real change with the DHBs around the country,” Mr Murray notes. “Since the conference I’ve had two follow ups with people who are amazed with the amount of global experience Tunstall brings to the New Zealand industry.”

You can find out more about Tunstall’s range of connected healthcare solutions here, or contact our helpful team today.