HIQ Technology assists Earthquake Recovery

10 May 2011

In the aftermath of February's Canterbury earthquake, an assessment and care planning computer system greatly assisted emergency response teams in locating elderly people at risk. The system is called interRAI and we're proud to say that HIQ - the IT operation wholly owned by Taranaki DHB - plays a significant role in making it available to New Zealanders.

HIQ hosts the national interRAI data warehouse, which stores all the interRAI assessment data gathered across the country.

Significantly, when it came to assisting the frail and elderly in Canterbury following the February quake, it was this HIQ-hosted data source that really helped the Canterbury emergency response teams. It provided information which enabled them to target support to the most vulnerable individuals living in the community.

HIQ has successfully hosted interRAI for a number of DHBs and their associated service providers since 2005. This originally started out as a pilot scheme that same year, when HIQ hosted the system for the Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Canterbury DHBs.

Following the pilot, Canterbury DHB continued to use interRAI and installed the software themselves. HIQ meanwhile continued to act as host for a number of DHBs. In 2009, both Canterbury and HIQ jointly became the 'national hosts' for the interRAI software. HIQ now hosts interRAI for all of the Central and Midland region DHBs and Canterbury host the Southern and Northern regions. Both HIQ and Canterbury DHB host a number of DHB contracted non-governmental organisations. As for the aforementioned data warehouse, HIQ has hosted that since its launch in 2011.

Andrew Downes of HIQ is the National interRAI Service Manager. According to Andrew clinical staff working in the field: "Can download client records, do assessments in the community and upload them at the end of the day without having to be 'connected' to the main computer system,” he said.

“There are at least 400 clinical assessors that use interRAI hosted from the HIQ site alone and at the end of each day the data warehouse is updated with all the new information.”

Andrew, and everyone that has been working with interRAI, was very pleased that the system was able to be used in this very practical and unique way to support a civil disaster.

For more information please call:
Sue Carrington
Media Adviser
Ph. 021 367 789

Last updated: Friday, May 13, 2011