A $500,000 grant from the Growth Services Fund has been awarded to the New Zealand Health IT Cluster - an alliance of New Zealand-based health IT organisations that are working together to access offshore markets and to share expertise.

As well, two Auckland-based health IT companies, HealthPhone and BrainZ have also received $500,000 each in co-funding from the same fund to further develop their expertise and their markets.

Healthphone has developed a patient health record solution accessible on laptops, tablets, PDAs or smart phones, which makes information available at every point of care. For example, a GP or nurse on the road can quickly download key medical information to help care for patients. BrainZ develops and sells innovative brain monitoring equipment.

Market development assistance co-funding grants of $100,000 each have also been approved for four health IT companies - Intrahealth, The Simpl Group, Precept and MedTech, to help the companies break into offshore markets through in-market research and other market development.

"It's great to see this support going to a sector with high export growth potential - especially in Export Year 2007. The New Zealand health IT sector is already strong and our government is committed to helping it gain even more traction in global markets. We need to work together to see more kiwi firms turn into successful exporters. It's an important part of our agenda to transform New Zealand into a high-wage export-led economy that is innovative and at the cutting edge of new thinking.

"The government support for the Health IT Cluster will help it act as an agent and identify export opportunities, engage in global markets and also encourage new projects that will position New Zealand as a leader of innovative health IT," Trevor Mallard said at a meeting of the Cluster in Auckland today.

"Already one of the Cluster's projects, the Collaborative Health Showcase, has had significant international spinoffs for the firms involved (details below). There is a huge international focus on health IT as it changes the face of healthcare to make it more affordable and efficient. New Zealand's health IT sector earned around $230 million in revenue last year, seventy per cent from exports. There was an increase of more that 500 percent from revenue in 2001.

"Strategically we need to look at global trends and match these with areas where New Zealand businesses can compete and excel," Trevor Mallard said.

"Cost and lack of international experience mean it can be difficult for individual New Zealand companies to reach international markets, and once there, they may not have the capacity to promote their product and develop distribution networks.

"Collaboration can provide a greater critical mass, saving scarce resources, but can also often develop something more valuable as a whole than the individual pieces that make it up."

The New Zealand Health IT Cluster
The New Zealand Health IT Cluster is made up of 46 software and solution developers; consultants; health policy makers, funders and providers; health infrastructure companies and academic institutions. The Cluster has also set up a wholly owned subsidiary, New Zealand Health IT Cluster Ltd, as a vehicle to run projects and develop intellectual property. One good example of its capability and potential is the Collaborative Health Showcase.

The Collaborative Health Showcase
The Collaborative Health Showcase was funded by Microsoft New Zealand, government agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST).

The Showcase saw seven Cluster Members travel with Microsoft to the HIMSS* trade event in San Diego in February 2006. The Collaborative Health Showcase presented and demonstrated an integrated healthcare solution from New Zealand, centring on providing patient-focussed healthcare, supported by world-class health information technology.

The story showed a chronic care patient with diabetes through a variety of care settings, using various technological applications and services working cohesively together.

The companies involved in the Showcase were Enigma, HealthPhone, Houston Medical, Precept Systems, SimplHealth, Sysmex and Vodafone New Zealand.

As a result of the Showcase; Precept Systems has forged a partnership with an US software firm as a direct result of the interest they generated through their involvement in the project; HealthPhone Ltd recently signed a deal with Canadian telecommunications giant TELUS to host their technology; and The Simpl Group were taken on board by Microsoft as a lead partner for health worldwide.

HealthPhone has forged strong relationships with partners such as Microsoft and TELUS in Canada and generated a technologically-advanced product suite. HealthPhone is Microsoft5's global lead solution partner for community care and long-term condition management. The government grant, which the company must match, is an investment to build a strong business model and organisational structure, and achieve a faster path to market success than would otherwise be possible.

BrainZ's initial product, BRM2, is designed for neonatal intensive care. BrainZ has signed a distribution agreement with GE Healthcare in 2004, and BRM2 units have been deployed in 16 countries to date and will eventually include 35 new territories, including major European countries, Canada and the Middle East.

The government grant, which the company must match, will go toward developing training materials and programmes, contracting skilled trainers, and delivering a series of workshops to build the capability of this key channel internationally.