Orion Health supports COVID-19 decision-making with a national algorithm management solution

AUCKLAND,New Zealand,May 19,2020 -- Orion Health has today announced it will deliver a free national solution to support scenario modelling,risk prediction,forecasting and planning throughout New Zealand's COVID-19 response.

Accelerated to market through the Ministry of Business,Innovation and Employment's COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration fund,the New Zealand Algorithm Hub will provide the infrastructure,tooling and resources necessary to support operational modelling and timely information dissemination to the New Zealand Government,healthcare organisations and professionals.

Orion Health will work with local and international health,research and data science communities to identify,prioritise and deploy algorithms and models that are best suited to supporting New Zealand's pandemic response. As new algorithms and models are developed in New Zealand and internationally,this solution will enable appropriate governance and fast deployment of the latest findings from research and practice.

Genevieve Dawick,Product Director for the New Zealand Algorithm Hub,says the solution is specifically geared towards supporting New Zealand's pandemic response.

"We're making it easy for organisations throughout New Zealand to access information and tooling that will support effective decision making," says Genevieve.

Orion Health is already supporting the National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) by running the daily disease spread models and reporting on scenario results. However,currently,these models are only available to be run by the immediate modelling team. The New Zealand Algorithm Hub will open up this modelling capability to a wider New Zealand audience,including the Ministry of Health,District Health Boards and other healthcare professionals. As researchers and health data scientists create new models,these can be quickly and safely deployed for maximum impact.

The concept for the New Zealand Algorithm Hub was initially developed through the Precision Driven Health research partnership between Orion Health and partners.

Kevin Ross,Director of Research at Orion Health and CEO of Precision Driven Health,says,"The missing link in health data research is often the translation from research to practice; this solution will enable that for multiple parties."

The team is currently engaging with New Zealand's health,government and data science communities to understand and prioritise the highest value algorithms and models for deployment.

Find out more at www.orionhealth.com/nz/solutions/new-zealand-algorithm-hub/

[ENDS]

About Orion Health

Orion Health is a leading global technology company that develops software to support the delivery of optimised healthcare. We provide flexible technology solutions that bring together all types of health data to support the management of individualised patient care across a health system. With over 25 years' experience,Orion Health has the global healthcare experience and capabilities to help organisations realise value quickly,without compromising on the local touch required for successful delivery and support.

About Precision Driven Health

The Precision Driven Health partnership (PDH),established in March 2016,is one of the most ambitious data science research initiatives to be undertaken inNew Zealand. The partnership unites the health IT sector with healthcare providers and universities to create health and commercial opportunities for New Zealanders. Research is focused on applying new data science techniques to understand the massive volume of data about an individual captured by health information systems,consumer devices,social networks,genetic testing,and other sources. To date,PDH has supported more than 75 projects in health data science,including summer and postgraduate scholarships,a joint PDH-HRC Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme,and multi-millliondollar discovery and transformationprogrammesin several areas including de-identification and deep learning. PDH researchers are also exploring vital concepts such as bias in machine learning,the ethics of AI use,and consent paradigms for enabling the next wave of health data research. Find out more at www.precisiondrivenhealth.com.

Photo - /20200519/2807374-1?lang=0