Waitematā, Counties Manukau DHB official assigned to interim Health NZ post

Stuart Bloomfield, chief digital officer of Waitematā and Counties Manukau District Health Boards, has temporarily been appointed to the role of chief of data and digital at the interim Health NZ.

Health NZ is an upcoming health service that is set to replace the 20 district health boards of New Zealand starting July.

According to Health Informatics New Zealand, Bloomfield is replacing Shayne Hunter, deputy director for general data and digital at the Ministry of Health, who stepped down from his post in May. 

Margie Apa, chief executive of the interim Health NZ, was quoted as saying that Bloomfield's role will focus on assembling a leadership team of people involved in the data and digital investments in the country's health system. They will be working on the design of an operating model and the implementation of agreed change recommendations.

He will also be involved in the formation of the Data and Digital Board subcommittee and its work programme for the next two years.

The news report also noted that a permanent chief data and digital position is in the works and will be recruited through a full and open screening process.

Hyland names ex-Gartner official to lead APAC Healthcare division

Content services provider Hyland has appointed a former official from technology consulting firm Gartner as its senior manager for the company's Asia-Pacific healthcare division.

Based on a press statement, Lachie Swann will lead the implementation of the company's growth strategy to expand Hyland Healthcare across APAC. 

"As a company, we are continuing to invest in the region and looking to extend the success we have achieved with our healthcare solution," said Mark Groesch, associate VP of Hyland International Healthcare.

He noted that Swann's international experience in developing markets and launching new products "makes him an ideal leader to build on the strong foundations Hyland has in the Asia-Pacific region".

For the past eight years, Melbourne-based Swann has held several commercial leadership roles, most recently being the VP of Larger Enterprise Sales at Gartner. "I’m thrilled to make the transition from technology research and consulting into the vendor landscape," he said.

Hyland Healthcare's accounts in Australia include Melbourne Health, Metro North Health, Dental Health Services Victoria and the hospital chain Mater Misericordiae. 

Vantari VR appoints product head to lead US expansion

Australian virtual reality startup Vantari VR is starting to make its way to the United States by appointing a head of product to lead the expansion.

Jay Kahlon, who was named for the position, has helped launch about 45 products in the healthcare simulation space, such as hardware, software, cloud and mixed reality tools, in the US market over the past decade.

He was previously with Blue Panthom, maker of an ultrasound simulation model that was acquired in 2012 by CAE Healthcare, a provider of simulation-based training solutions for healthcare. He had held various roles in both companies from product and business development to operations and marketing.

According to a media release, Kahlon's new role at Vantari VR involves supporting the teams in product and platform vision and development, road mapping, as well as identifying and developing strategic and clinical partnerships and handling business development.

"His personal mission to democratise access to healthcare training internationally with the transformative technology of virtual reality aligns with our goals for Vantari VR, and we’re excited about what the future holds for us with Jay’s expertise," Vantari VR co-CEO and co-founder Nishanth Krishnananthan said about his appointment.

Commenting on his new role, Kahlon said: "The vision Vantari has laid out utilising virtual reality to enable access to world-class clinical procedural training, regardless of educator availability, simulation space and self-directed learning has greatly resonated with how I envision our collaboration can disrupt the status quo of access to world-class healthcare training".