Time Wasted on Blood Test Results and Inbox Management
Elliot Hawthorne made this Official Information request to Ministry of Health
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From: Elliot Hawthorne
Dear Ministry of Health,
I'm interested in learning more about how healthcare professionals in New Zealand spend their time on tasks like managing blood test results and handling inboxes. Under the Official Information Act, I was hoping you could help me with some information.
If the Ministry of Health isn't the appropriate place for this request, could you please forward it to Te Whatu Ora and the PHOs.
Specifically, I'm looking for:
1. Time and Resources Spent on Blood Test Results:
1a. Current estimates of how much clinical time Senior Medical Officers (SMOs), junior doctors, and General Practitioners (GPs) devote to accepting and reviewing blood test results.
2b. Trends in time allocation for this task over the past five years, compared to data from 20 years ago.
2. Inboxing Tasks by Doctors:
2a. Current data on the time SMOs, junior doctors, and GPs spend on inbox management and related administrative tasks.
2b. How this time burden has changed over the last five years, in comparison to 20 years ago.
3. Impact on Clinical Practice and Patient Care:
3a. Estimates of how much clinical or consultation time is effectively 'lost' due to these non-clinical tasks.
3b. Any available information on the impact of these administrative duties on patient care, such as delays in diagnosis or reduced time for patient interactions.
4. Comparative Data Across Healthcare Settings:
4a. Differences in time spent on these tasks between primary care (GPs) and secondary care (hospital-based doctors).
4b. Insights into how different healthcare systems within New Zealand approach these tasks and any strategies they've used to reduce time wastage.
5. Efficiency Measures and Technological Interventions:
5a. Data on any efforts, past or ongoing, to reduce the time burden of inbox management and blood result processing—like automation, streamlined communication, or policy changes.
I'd really appreciate any existing reports, analyses, or raw data that cover these points, ideally broken down by healthcare setting (e.g., hospitals vs. GP practices) and level of seniority. I'm particularly interested in any studies or assessments the Ministry of Health or District Health Boards have done on these issues.
Thanks so much for your time and help with this request. Please let me know if you need any more details.
Yours faithfully,
Elliot Hawthorne
From: Elliot Hawthorne
Dear Ministry of Health,
I'm just following up on the Official Information Act request I sent on 4th of November about the time healthcare professionals spend on blood test result management and inbox tasks in New Zealand. I haven't heard back yet and was wondering if my original request was received.
If the Ministry of Health isn't the right place for this request, could you please forward it to Te Whatu Ora and the Primary Health Organisation?
Please let me know if you need any more information from me.
Yours faithfully,
Elliot Hawthorne
From: OIA Requests
Kia ora Elliot
Thank you for your request for official information. The reference number
for your request is: H2024055359. Apologies for the delay in acknowledging
your request.
As required under the Official Information Act 1982, The Ministry of
Health will endeavour to respond to your request no later than 20 working
days after the day your request was received. If you'd like to calculate
the timeframe, you can use the Ombudsman's online calculator
here: [1]http://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact the OIA Services Team
on [2][email address]. If any additional factors come to light which
are relevant to your request, please do not hesitate to contact us so that
these can be taken into account.
Under section 28(3) of the Act you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [3][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.
Ngā mihi
OIA Services Team
[4]Ministry of Health information releases
------------------- Original Message
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From: OIA Requests
Tēnā koe Elliot,
Thank you for your request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act) to the Ministry of Health-Manatū Hauora on 4 November 2024.
Your request asks for information which is more closely connected with the
functions of Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora). For this reason, the
Ministry has decided to transfer your request to Health New Zealand under
section 14(b)(ii) of the Act. You can expect a response from their agency
in due course. Their contact email is: [1][email address].
Under section 28(3) of the Act, you have the right to ask the Ombudsman to
review any decisions made under this request. The Ombudsman may be
contacted by email at: [2][email address] or by calling 0800
802 602.
Ngā mihi
OIA Services Team
Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health
M[3]inistry of Health information releases
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Elliot Hawthorne <[FOI #29047 email]>
Sent: Thursday, 7 November 2024 12:36
To: OIA Requests <[email address]>
Subject: Re: Official Information request - Time Wasted on Blood Test
Results and Inbox Management
Dear Ministry of Health,
I'm just following up on the Official Information Act request I sent on
4th of November about the time healthcare professionals spend on blood
test result management and inbox tasks in New Zealand. I haven't heard
back yet and was wondering if my original request was received.
If the Ministry of Health isn't the right place for this request, could
you please forward it to Te Whatu Ora and the Primary Health Organisation?
Please let me know if you need any more information from me.
Yours faithfully,
Elliot Hawthorne
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #29047 email]
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If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
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From: hnzOIA
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for contacting Health NZ, Te Whatu Ora. This is an automatic
reply to confirm that we have received your email. Depending on the
nature of your request you may not receive a response for up to 20 working
days. We will try to respond to your query as quickly as possible.
Ngā mihi
Health NZ, Te Whatu Ora.
Statement of confidentiality: This email message and any accompanying
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delete this message
From: hnzOIA
Kia ora Elliot
In response to your information request of 4 November 2024 sent to the
Ministry of Health and transferred to Health NZ. Health NZ does not hold
information relating to the Practice Management Systems used by GPs and
this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act.
Within the hospitals, all of the information relevant to your request is
held in "audit" tables. These differ between systems and HNZ would have to
look at each system individually. We therefore refuse this part your
request under section 18(f) of the Act.
We have considered whether fixing a charge for the supply of the
information or extending the time frame for response would enable Health
NZ to respond. We do not consider that either option would remove the
impact that supplying the information would have on our other operations.
We would like to assist you with your research. We can put you in contact
with our Clinical Informatics group if you would like to send your contact
information to [1][email address].
Ngā mihi
Government Services
Office of the Chief Executive
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
------------------- Original Message
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