Eight more district health boards (DHBs) in New Zealand will be assessed on their digital maturity using HIMSS Analytics maturity assessments over the next 12 months.

The Ministry kicked off its digital health maturity model project early this year, with Southern DHB the first to complete the assessments, followed by MidCentral DHB, which is awaiting its report.

All DHBs are now being offered the chance to have an assessment using four HIMSS maturity assessments: EMRAM, O-EMRAM, CCMM and INFRAM.

Ministry of Health Group Manager of Digital Strategy and Investment Darren Douglass says the intention is that the remaining DHBs will have assessments in 2020/2021.

The Ministry and HIMSS are holding a workshop on Nov. 20 during Digital Health Week NZ 2019 in Hamilton for those wanting to learn more about the assessment process.

HIMSS Analytics Global Vice President John Daniels says the workshop will focus on how organisations can leverage the HIMSS maturity model road maps to guide their journey toward digital transformation.

He has been impressed with the level of engagement from the Ministry and the DHBs HIMSS has worked with so far.

“It seems everyone is on the same boat wanting to drive healthcare forward from a digital transformation perspective, and one of the big challenges organisations face is getting everyone working toward a common goal,” he said.

The HIMSS assessments score hospitals and care settings on their adoption and use of electronic medical records on a scale from 0–7.

At the workshop, Daniels will provide an overview of the maturity models, looking at how and why they were developed, as well as a deeper dive into EMRAM and O-EMRAM.

He says the process not only identifies the gaps in maturity, but provides details around those gaps, such as what factors are preventing the organisation from having a certain capability.

Daniels hopes the workshop will attract senior IT leaders, clinical leaders and industry partners as the groups need to work together on the transformation journey.

“For the most part, I think the culture is there in New Zealand that will enable this sort of transformation to occur, but you need the right leadership and the people using the systems to be on board and everyone working together, as it takes a team effort,” he added.

Douglass hopes that people from across the sector will attend the sessions at HINZ 2019 as their organisation may be invited to participate in an assessment.

“Undertaking the HIMSS maturity assessments uses an international tool that can assist DHBs in their roadmaps for digital investment. A New Zealand glossary has been developed to ensure the assessment fits the New Zealand health environment,” he said.

There will also be a session at the HINZ Conference 2019 regarding the learnings from the assessments that have been completed.

This article first appeared on eHealthNews.nz.