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The New Zealand Ministry of Health released its Health Information Strategy earlier this month focused on development of a distributed electronic health records linked by a nationwide, secure broadband network rather than creating a centralized system.

New Zealand Health Minister Annette King said she views information technology as an essential tool for improvement of health care in New Zealand. "To improve the health outcomes for New Zealanders, we need to work smarter -- to work smarter, then better information is our life blood," King said.

The strategy document calls for development of an EHR system at local, national and regional levels, with "the richest and most detailed information about a consumer kept locally." The strategy envisions development of broadband networks "to use and share this distributed information in a manner that leads to better health and participation outcomes."

The strategy document predicts that in three to five years all community health care providers will be connected to a secure health information network and that primary and secondary care providers will interact electronically around key events, such as discharges and chronic care and disease management.

Besides development distributed and networked EHRs, the strategy also calls for development of a health provider index and ePharmacy and eLab systems, as well as an electronic patient referral system.

The ministry has provided $1.4 million in funding for key national health IT systems and the strategy document calls for reallocation of health care IT funding by all health care sectors towards systems, which tie in with the national plan.