Our Insights
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.
Insights into the impact of our services
Our mission to improve health outcomes for all New Zealanders is underpinned by robust evidence and data-driven insights. Our approach is grounded in rigorous analysis of health trends, service utilisation patterns, and the evolving needs of our diverse communities. From monitoring global and local health sector trends to analysing service demand data, every aspect of our work is informed by concrete evidence. This enables us to adapt our services in real-time, ensuring we're always meeting the most pressing health needs of New Zealanders.
By leveraging our rich dataset - encompassing millions of contacts over eight years - we're able to anticipate changes in health needs and understand the social determinants of health outcomes, driving innovation in telehealth services.
