Looking to the future

What could digital healthcare look like in 2026? How will people interact with their doctor, nurse and other health professionals? What sort of devices and applications will be available to individuals, health professionals, researchers and innovators?

Consumer

"I feel supported to be in control of my own health using a variety of wearable and telehealth devices. My personal avatar can access all of my health information."

"My health care is co-ordinated by a virtual team of health professionals, all of whom have secure access to my health record."

"Access to my health information is controlled by me and audited to ensure privacy and confidentiality."

"My monitoring device alerts me early to potential health problems and the GP chatbot contacts me to discuss any abnormal readings. An appointment is automatically booked for me at my preferred time."

"My AI health care assistant provides some health information translation, such as reminding me why it is important for me to take medicine with food."

"If I am discharged from hospital, the community supports I need are automatically put in place by my multi-agency care team, which is alerted in real-time about my changing requirements."

"If I live remotely, my care is delivered virtually from larger centres, meaning I get the same level of care as any other New Zealander."

"Overall, I am healthier and I feel confident that my health problems are detected and addressed early. "

Community nurse

"My assistant AI recalls my schedule to me as I am driven to my first appointment. This will include any change requests from my clients."

"I narrate my patient assessments into my mobile device and this is automatically loaded to the individual’s care plan for everyone within their care team to see."

"Hospital specialists are alerted to my assessments by artificial intelligence software, which recommends a medication change for the patient. This is authorised by the specialist."

"Genetic testing is widespread and drives highly personalised care plans for my patients."

"Machine learning algorithms monitor my patients virtually via readings from their telemedicine and wearable devices. I am alerted to any abnormal readings and presented with a range of possible actions."

"Automated systems mean I can monitor more patients and prioritise who I need to see in person."

Doctor

"My day is spent guiding my patients through various significant health events as their routine healthcare needs are self-managed and provided virtually at a time and place that suits them."

"Part of my day is spent in virtual clinics, which are delivered via digital technology in a patient’s home, aged care facility, or elsewhere."

"My AI assistant helps me diagnose patients according to their health record and current readings being relayed from their devices."

"I order tests and investigations through my wearable device and am notified of any test and procedure results outside expected parameters."

"I prescribe via my wearable device. Prescriptions are produced by 3D printer in a dispensing facility and the medication delivered to the patient by drone."

"I have multi-functional devices, such as a hand-held imaging machine, to detect abnormalities. This information is relayed in real-time to specialists to review if required."

"Consultation with specialists is often virtual via 3D holograms which are shared with the patient and health care team."

Innovator - developer

"I am directly connected with the consumers and providers of healthcare and wellbeing services and can hear first-hand what they want from technology. This gives greater market share to start-ups like mine that are able to be agile and make changes to suit their needs."

"My developers work in an open source environment where companies co-operate rather than compete. Health providers pay for the delivery, customisation, management and hosting of my technologies, rather than software licenses."

"All systems use approved international standards. Only systems that are fully interoperable are active in the market."

"The app market is consumer-driven. Consumers control their health information and can choose what systems or applications have access to their data for specific use cases. They can also choose to make their information available to developers."

"Apps can securely access information from non-health systems and databases of people’s genetic information – either directly or via a system that brokers these connections."

"New apps are registered with an approved service, which automatically verifies that my app meets agreed requirements."

Researcher

"I have access to a wide range of anonymised datasets, with approval for research purposes given directly by the consumers who control their own data."

"The consumer-led approach to data access gives me access to a range of ‘soft data’ via consumers apps, giving greater insight into a population’s feelings and thoughts at any given time."

"Data is collected via joined up everyday devices in real-time (e.g. cellphones, coffee makers, lamps and wearable devices), genomics, surveillance equipment and clinical records."

"My research is targeted towards solving real world problems and feeds into clinical decision support and risk stratification systems."

"With real-time data available from many sources, research is forward-looking, capturing trends and assessing their implications."

"Research projects involve creating dynamic models, rather than the old ‘static snapshots’."

"I work with vulnerable populations, looking at data with them and deciding together on the best interventions."