About
The New Zealand Telehealth Forum promotes the use of telehealth as an enabler in the provision of healthcare. It is funded by Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora - Data and Digital, and is led by a leadership group that includes clinicians, consumers, policymakers, planning and commissioning managers, ICT experts and (by invite only) industry representatives.
Role of the Telehealth Forum:
- advise on requirements and priorities for telehealth deployments to support rural and provincial hospitals, integrated care, home monitoring and clinical networks
- advise on matters relating to environmental considerations, eg, barriers to uptake, technical considerations, protocols and guidelines, and standards
- provide advice and support for projects undertaken by the Forum
- contribute to the achievement of the overall objectives of the Telehealth Leadership Group to the maximum extent practicable.
Groups within the Telehealth Forum:
- Patient anywhere, clinician everywhere (PACE) and remote patient monitoring (RPM)
- Research, audit and evaluation (RAE) with Data Standards (DS)
- Digital Health Equity Network (DHEN)
- Communities of Practice
- Telehealth community of practice
- AI community of practice
Note: Working Groups have specific projects and work plans that they focus on. Community of Practices will meet monthly for a presentation and/or discussion.
The New Zealand Telehealth Forum (NZTF) is committed and focused on leading sector-wide adoption of telehealth as a safe, efficient and appropriate way to deliver healthcare. By working with key partners including health providers, health organisations and professional bodies, the Forum works together to deliver accurate education, guidance and resources to successfully integrate virtual healthcare.
NZ Telehealth Forum timeline
The Forum has been operating for more than 15 years. During this time the Forum has contributed to the design, development, adoption and continuation of telehealth across healthcare in Aotearoa. Here is a timeline highlighting some of our milestones.
2010
In October 2010, the telehealth leaders held their first inaugural meeting to bring interested parties together to discuss current initiatives and experiences, and next steps for moving forward. Key attendees included Malcolm Pollock, National Institute for Health Innovation; Pat Kerr, Telehealth NZ Ltd; and Graeme Osborne, National Health IT Board and head of Ministry of Health.
Following the inaugural meeting, the group made a submission to the National Health IT Board and received approval to proceed with start-up funding for an establishment board.
2011
The first establishment board meeting was held in April to develop Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Telehealth Forum, chaired by Malcolm Pollock and Michael Sullivan as clinical lead. Michael Sullivan had spearheaded telehealth for Canterbury and West Coast DHBs before moving to Australia.
A formal Expression of Interest was issued in December for applications to Telehealth Leadership Group membership.
In December, an Expression of Interest (EOI) was issued to join the Telehealth Leadership Group (TLG). There were approximately 90 – 100 responses.
2012
In February 2012, a Telehealth Symposium “A Call to Arms” was held at the National Institute for Health Innovation (NIHI) with approximately 200 people in attendance.
The New Zealand Telehealth Leadership Group (NZTLG) formed as an advisory group for the Ministry of Health. Malcolm Pollock from National Institute for Health Innovation (NIHI) at University of Auckland (UoA) was the inaugural chairperson of the Telehealth Leadership Group (TLG). Pat Kerr was appointed as principal consultant (later changed to Programme Lead as the leadership group grew) to carry out consulting projects under the NZTLG/NIHI umbrella. Originally from America, Pat had extensive experience and was a New Zealand telehealth pioneer since the 1990s.
In March 2012 the Telehealth Leadership Group (TLG) held their first inaugural meeting.
2013
John Garret, paediatrician from Canterbury District Health Board, succeeded Malcolm as chairperson, and Ruth Large was appointed deputy chair.
2014
The NZ Telehealth Leadership Group were providing resources to clinicians well before the organisation was formed – there was a Telehealth Forum section on the National Health IT board’s pages on the Ministry of Health website starting from 2012. This included the NZTLG ToR, Telehealth Leadership Group members, documents and case studies.
A partnership with Mobile Health came to fruition to set up the Telehealth Resource Centre and launched the NZ Telehealth Resource Centre website telehealth.org.nz. Subsequently, NZ Telehealth Leadership Group received official recognition for the Telehealth Resource Centre as the voice of New Zealand telehealth by the Ministry of Health and other health organisations.
2014 was also the year the first major stocktake of telehealth across the district health board sector was published, followed by a report on PHO/NGO activity in March 2015. A follow-up survey of district health boards was carried out in 2018.
2015
The NZ Telehealth Resource Centre website was officially launched by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman on 14th August 2015.
2017
Ruth Large, emergency medicine specialist and clinical director of virtual health succeeded John in the role of chairperson in early 2017 and remains the chair.
2020
The Ministry of Health – Data and Digital provided certainty of funding for 24 months from 1 July 2020 to 31 June 2022.
Pat Kerr retired and succeeded by Charis Frethey as Telehealth Leadership Group (TLG) programme lead.
2022
NZTF celebrates its 10 year anniversary.
NZTF launched online training module in partnership with Healthcare Home Collaborative (now Collaborative Aotearoa).
NZTF launched a PASE white paper (Patient Anywhere Specialist Elsewhere) model of care - outlining the need for national telehealth capability.
The 2022 NZTF Funder Report was released, detailing the past two years work of the forum.
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora Data and Digital confirmed funding for 12 months until June 2023.
Charis Frethey stepped down as Programme Manager. The role was divided into two with Annemarie Thomas and Nicola Green taking on the roles as Programme and Project Manager respectively.
2023
Following feedback about the 2022 PASE white paper, a 2023 white paper was released and renamed PACE - Patient Everywhere Clinician Elsewhere.
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora confirmed funding for 12 months until June 2024.
Forecast NZTF membership is more than five times that of 2020.
Annemarie Thomas and Nicola Green stepped down as Project and Programme Manager.
2024
In February, we welcomed Scott Arrol as the newly appointed Programme Manager.
The Professionals COP underwent a refresh and merged with the Internationals COP.
Health NZ | Te Whatu Ora withdrew its funding. Despite this reduction in funding, we maintained the Forum with limited resources and operating at a reduced capacity to stay functional. Consequently, many of the Communities of Practice (COP) and working groups have been consolidated to adapt to these changes.
2025
Funding cuts reduced the Forum's available resource over this period, leading to the consolidation of several working groups. Nonetheless, the Forum maintained its support for members in adopting and sustaining telehealth services.
2026
In January, the Forum hosted an international two-day online symposium, bringing together more than 100 participants for in-depth discussion on the use of telehealth to support patients receiving hospital-level care in the community.
2026 - July
The Forum's funding from Health NZ was reinstated. Programme Manager Jess Morgan-French joined the Forum to support delivery of the annual plan.
