New Zealand Health Innovation Awards Announced

21 August 2002

New Zealand Health Innovation Awards Announced

A new set of awards has been announced today to recognise and honour New Zealand’s most innovative health providers.

Individuals, groups and organisations working across the full range of health care including public health, accident and emergency care, general practice, community care, primary care and rehabilitation are invited to enter the inaugural New Zealand Health Innovation Awards.

The awards are designed to raise public awareness of the outstanding contribution that dedicated health innovators are making to the treatment, care and recovery of New Zealanders.

Besides acknowledging and rewarding the achievements of health innovators, a key aim of the New Zealand Health Innovation Awards is to promote the sharing of innovative products, services and processes.

The New Zealand Health Innovation Awards are the joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and ACC.

The New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation will select the winners using international criteria and evaluation processes.

The Foundation will accept formal applications from nominees between 23 September and 25 October 2002.

There are three entry categories:

- Individual: 1-5 people

- Group: 5-20 people

- Organisation: 20 or more people.

The winner of each category will receive a certificate and a cash prize of $8,000 and will be eligible to win the Supreme award of $15,000. A popular choice award of $5,000 will also be presented.

The winners of the New Zealand Health Innovation Awards will be announced at a special ceremony at Te Papa on 23 April 2003.

To make it as easy as possible for people to enter, the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation will invite initial expressions of interest, briefly outlining the innovation.

An expression of interest form may be obtained directly from the Foundation and will be available online shortly at http://www.healthinnovationawards.co.nz

The expression of interest form will ask entrants to describe the innovation and why it was needed for the client or group it was designed for, and to explain how the innovation has had a positive effect on a health service, product or system and/or improved patient care.

Patients, consumers and community groups as well as health providers who want to nominate someone else or some other group or organisation for the Awards are also invited to fill out one of the expression of interest forms.

The innovation may be an advance in technology systems or in new processes, products or services which improve patient care or rehabilitation

From the original pool of entrants, an independent team of evaluators will then select finalists who will be invited to submit a more detailed application.

The team of evaluators and an independent panel of judges will then assess the final application forms. They may decide to make site visits to help them scrutinise the entries.

The evaluators will look for innovations that show evidence of being:

- Researched and analysed to determine feasibility

- Effectively led

- Well planned and implemented

- Able to be managed effectively

- Evaluated and improved to meet stakeholder needs

- Successful and sustainable

No innovation is too big or too small to be eligible for entry in the inaugural New Zealand Health Innovation Awards.

For more information, contact the New Zealand Health Innovation Awards

Co-ordinator at the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation on 09 270 5164, fax 09 270 5163, or email: info@nzbef.org.nz The Foundation’s web site is located at http://www.nzbef.org.nz

Media Contacts:

Peter Abernethy Fraser Folster

Communications Manager Media Advisor

Ministry of Health ACC

DDI 04 496 2008 DDI 04 918 4119

MOB 0274 477 036 MOB 025 947 795

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