Our Insights
Passion for better.
Virtual Care in Aotearoa: Our Insights FY26 (1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026)
In FY26, Whakarongorau services responded to around 1.1 million contacts and reached 728,625 people, around 14% of the population. Each day, around 2,000 people received support through our services.
This publication draws on FY26 service, contact and experience data to show how virtual care is connecting more closely with the wider health system. It looks at how people reach support, where clinical judgement shapes the next step, and what happens as care continues across services.
Four findings emerge from the FY26 data: access becomes more useful when it connects with care; clinical judgement is shaping decisions earlier; virtual care helps people stay connected with care; and care increasingly continues across services.
Partnership and Response Insights: Our whānau-centred impact
Our Taki-o-Autahi partnership of Te Hau Ora O Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga, and Whakarongorau Aotearoa, has a ground-breaking impact on health equity in Aotearoa New Zealand. Our Partnership and Response Insights report highlights how this by Māori for Māori telehealth collaboration is revolutionising healthcare delivery, creating local jobs, and fostering community wellbeing.
Pioneering Virtual Care: A Pathway to Transforming Healthcare
In May 2024, Whakarongorau facilitated a pivotal discussion on Virtual Care at the HiNZ Digital Health Summit. With 120 delegates contributing their expertise, we explored core themes such as trust and confidence, clinician resistance, funding challenges, user access, and the role of automation in virtual care.
Many participants agreed that virtual care represents the future of healthcare, offering a much-needed solution to the pressures facing our current system. However, some voiced concerns about equity and clinical decision risks associated with telehealth. A recurring sentiment was that virtual care should complement, not replace, primary care.
This report distils the insights gained from our discussions, providing a clear picture of both current challenges and emerging opportunities. It captures the sector’s optimism and innovative drive, presenting a roadmap for advancing virtual care in Aotearoa and transforming healthcare through these dynamic solutions.
The impact of our Healthline and Emergency Triage services on Emergency Departments (EDs) nationwide
Two research studies (summarised here) clearly demonstrate this impact. The first reviews the Whakarongorau Emergency Triage Service that operates through a partnership between Whakarongorau, Wellington Free Ambulance, and Hato Hone St John working together in ambulance control rooms. The service prevented over 11,000 unnecessary ED visits in the first half of FY25 and avoided nearly 9,000 ambulance dispatches, with significant cost savings. The second is Te Pūnaha Matatini and Auckland University's research with Whakarongorau and Health NZ, covering the Te Manawa Taki (Midlands) region. The research shows that a phone call to Healthline prevents close to 23,000 unnecessary emergency department visits each year in that region.
Together, these findings highlight the critical role telehealth services play in connecting New Zealanders with the right care at the right time, while making more efficient use of our emergency healthcare resources.
