The Vensa.com innovation by New Zealand health software company Vensa Health was one of three finalists in contention for the award announced at HiNZ with the other finalists Celo and Orion Health.

The platform allows patients to book appointments with their doctor, nurse or clinic on their computer, tablet or smartphone but other innovations were to follow for the patient portal platform.

New Zealand Health IT chief executive Scott Arrol said the judges selected Vensa Health as it was focused on the clinician using the platform and also, more importantly, on patients using the platform to access their records, book appointments and have ‘virtual consultations’.

“The judges felt that Vensa.com is a paradigm shift from the patient portals available currently and is an innovative approach that has the potential to disrupt the market, support new business models and enable models of care delivered at the primary, community and individual levels of our society.”

Vensa chief executive and founder Ahmad Jubbawey said he was “over the moon” at being named the NZHIT Innovation Award 2017 winner. He said currently more than 70 per cent of general practices used Vensa Health to deliver health messages, appointment, screening and medication reminder texts to more than 3 million Kiwis a year.  The newly released Vensa.com platform now also allowed people to book appointments online in real time.

Finalist Celo uses healthcare grade and industry compliant encrypted technology to provide secure and real time mobile and desktop messaging for healthcare. While Orion Health developed an innovative interface solution and partnered with Canterbury Health to support the delivery of care closer to home.

Arrol the award finalists represented “only the tip of the iceberg” when it came to the upsurge of innovative IT solutions being developed by NZHIT members.

In addition, three final-year Bachelor of Health Science degree students – David Leong, Salome Lennon and Kirstin Lloyd – are finalists in the Sysmex Award for Health Informatics, which is open to University of Auckland students and will also be announced at the HiNZ conference.

Celo uses healthcare-grade and industry-compliant encrypted technology to provide secure and real-time mobile and desktop messaging for health care. It has been developed by healthcare professionals from the ground up and has been specially designed to ensure ease of use in a clinical setting.

Vensa Health is a mobile health solutions company providing information technology solutions for improved health information flow and communication between medical providers and their patients. Around 70 per cent of general practices use Vensa technology.

Orion Health has developed an innovative interface solution and partnered with Canterbury Health to enable a number of technology solutions that support the delivery of care closer to home and integrate health services for better outcomes.

Student finalist David Leong proposed a national rheumatic fever registry to increase the quality of statistical data on rheumatic fever, improve patient management between DHBs and assist with the compliance of required long-term treatment plans.

Second finalist Salome Lennon outlined a business case for a radiation therapy smartphone app, which offers patients more control over their treatment, including appointment scheduling and side-effect management, thereby improving adherence to care plans.

Third student finalist Kirstin Lloyd has looked to technology for a home-based healthcare solution for medically well neonates offering a long-term, cost-saving alternative to expensive neonatal care in hospital.