- Health New Zealand’s Economy is tracked with Excel
- The body drives 6,000 apps and 100 digital networks
- No immediate plans to modernize its systems
A recently published report has revealed that Health New Zealand (HNZ) has been dependent on a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet as its primary financial management tool.
Established in 2022, HNZ was designed to replace 20 district health councils in the name of cost -effectiveness and service consistency, but so far the body has been dependent on basic spreadsheet software that has been considered unsuitable for purpose.
A Deloitte report found that HNZ lost control of “critical handles that drive financial results”, as it primarily accused “inability to identify and respond to the interruption between expenses and revenue” among other factors.
New Zealand’s healthcare system was driven from an Excel -Crees Sheet
HNZ reported a $ 1.013 billion deficit. Against a Breakeven budget in 2022/23, and by 2023/24 Doilette says that financial challenges were “increasingly clear.”
Overall, the report specified five major problems with the Excel-based system: Hard-coded financial data made updates and source tracking difficult; Errors such as incorrectly released accruals were not picked up until later; Changes in previous periods would not flow to consolidated data; Limited tracking allows for easy data manipulation; and inputs and changes are prone to simple human errors, such as typos or missing zeros.
“The use of an Excel -Crepreneurial File to track and report financial results for a $ 28 billion expenditure organization.
Separately, Health Minister Simeon Brown recently revealed in a speech that HNZ is running an estimated 6,000 applications and 100 digital networks – he described the digital infrastructure of the health system as “fragmented.”
Despite the damping report, the Minister of Health has not revealed any immediate plans to replace Excel. A potential health infrastructure unit is considered to manage physical and digital assets, but no timeline has been set. Techradar Pro has contacted Health New Zealand for a comment.
