New report outlines how data science is transforming knowledge and care in Aotearoa New Zealand

Health data science offers the opportunity to significantly improve health outcomes for the people of Aotearoa New Zealand - and an award-winning partnership is already making strong steps to realise this potential.

Precision Driven Health (PDH) is an unincorporated joint venture between Orion Health, Te Whatu Ora Waitematā and Waipapa Taumata Rau - the University of Auckland which commenced in 2016.

The PDH partnership aims to improve the health of New Zealanders and their whānau through world-leading data science research in precision health, with a new PDH report, Better Health Through Data Science, highlighting the partnership’s strong progress towards meeting this goal.

Better Health Through Data Science

Kevin Ross, PDH’s Chief Executive Officer, says the developing field of precision health is leading the healthcare sector towards “the ability to take into account every piece of data known about someone, in order to give them exactly what they need.”

“There’s a nirvana that precision health is aiming for: a patient comes to you; you've got access to all of the data about them; and you use that to both specifically give them the advice that they need, and not waste time and resources on things that will clearly not work for them. The ‘precision’ piece is about being quite specific.”

“Better Health Through Data Science highlights the progress towards precision health that has resulted from this unique partnership, bringing together high-performing people and organisations, to focus on common goals.”

The PDH partnership has developed precision medicine models, tools and algorithms focused on improving screening, triaging patients and surgery, in an attempt to bring greater precision into treatment. It also seeks to increase data science capability in New Zealand’s health sector and encourage innovation in the use of health data.

To date, PDH has helped to support over 300 researchers on more than 100 research projects involving over 45 organisations, with Better Health Through Data Science outlining some of the outcomes and lessons from this research programme.

A ‘unique partnership’

Better Health Through Data Science details successes that PDH has facilitated since 2016, including:

• PDH’s vision for precision healthcare of delivering the right care, to the right person, at the right time through data science, including how it’s being applied in Aotearoa New Zealand, and what the PDH partnership hopes to achieve by pursuing it
• Technical advancements enabled through the PDH partnership, which has helped develop data science knowledge and techniques tuned to Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique characteristics - such as nzRISK, an easy-to-use online risk calculator that allows for a more informed decision-making process
• Developing capability for PDH’s partners and academics, and Aotearoa New Zealand’s overall health data science capability, including supporting local companies to invest in capability in data science research and development
• Engaging approaches that the PDH partnership has supported, including holistic, ethical research that will have a meaningful impact and deliver an equitable, wider social good
• Putting research into practise, translating research ideas into real-world use that range from a tool to de-identify health data to a platform developed to evaluate and host models and algorithms, providing a central and secure piece of infrastructure which has also been used to support New Zealand’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Kevin Ross says: “New Zealanders are far more informed and far more engaged with their health data than they’ve ever been, and will push the sector to modernise its approach to areas such as data sharing, and the use of artificial intelligence.

“At a time when health data science is just starting to move from potential to reality, people throughout society are recognising the positive and negative impacts of collecting, analysing and utilising personal health data for personalised health care.

“We have the opportunity to further embed precision health in our health system, our research ecosystem, and our digital health industry.

“The PDH partnership has created a strong platform for health data science in Aotearoa New Zealand. The opportunity to continue to invest in this area will help to deliver health outcomes for citizens, and economic growth for the country that will benefit future generations.”

Better Health Through Data Science is available at http://www.precisiondrivenhealth.com/reports.

Notes to editors

About Better Health Through Data Science

• Better Health Through Data Science is available online at www.precisiondrivenhealth.com/reports
• Physical copies will be available at the PDH stand at Digital Health Week NZ, taking place at Energy Events Centre in Rotorua from 5-8 December 2022.

About Health data science in Aotearoa New Zealand: a practical guide

• To capture some of the lessons learned from the PDH partnership, a guide to health data science has also been created
• Health data science in Aotearoa New Zealand: a practical guide collates positive practices for local health data science projects, summarising knowledge from the experiences of researchers from the PDH partnership and the wider health and data science sectors. It is available online at guide.precisiondrivenhealth.com.

About PDH

• PDH supports research collaborations in health data science. It has supported activities, including:
• Projects and programs initiated by the research community, its partners, or other organisations
• Scholarship and fellowships which allow students and postdoctoral researchers to explore precision health research through the partnership
• Events to bring together the health data science community
• Publication of research, opinions and guidelines.
• The PDH research programme delivers results across a number of areas:
• Health impact: An ability to make a difference to the healthcare of individuals, whānau or populations
• Māori advancement: The potential to improve the health outcomes and capabilities of Māori
• Scientific progress: Robustly moving the boundaries of knowledge and possibility
• Commercial potential: Leading to commercialisable tools and discoveries, and for which we can see a path to sustained commercial return to our partners
• Benefit to Aotearoa New Zealand: Contribution to the local economy and health system.
• PDH has won several national research and industry awards which are testament to the quality and impact of the research PDH is supporting. These include:
• Prime Minister’s Science Prize 2020: Winner, Prime Minister’s Science Prize - the premier award for science that is transformational in its impact – as part of the Te Pūnaha Matatini COVID-19 response modelling team (six PDH members named).
• NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2020: Winner, Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good Award at NZ Hi-Tech Awards, for the partnership’s freely accessible surgical risk calculator, nzRISK. The Visa Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good Award recognises innovation focused on improving the lives of the people it serves.
• KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards 2017: Winner, MinterEllisonRuddWatts Research & Business Partnership Award. This award recognises the deeply embedded working relationship between a research organisation and business that delivers significant commercial value for Aotearoa New Zealand.
• The PDH partnership has been incentivised by the MBIE partnership programme, which provides co-investment to stimulate an increase in Aotearoa New Zealand’s productivity.
• PDH is investing $38 million in this programme where for each activity, health partner organisations can utilise the findings, and an Aotearoa New Zealand entity owns the commercial rights to any resulting intellectual property.

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