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Media Release

Innovation in health: New $5m research partnership

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Health Innovation Partnership (HIP) logo

A new health research partnership worth $5 million/year was recently launched to support research that will provide evidence about the cost effectiveness of new and existing health technologies.

The Health Innovation Partnership, between the National Health Committee (NHC) and Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC), seeks to gather evidence to further improve the health and quality of life of New Zealanders, while supporting cost-effectiveness within the health sector. Research supported by the partnership will generate evidence focusing on effective health technologies and pathways for treatment. The research will also identify how new technologies can help put knowledge into action to provide more effective health services.

“We’re really excited by the chance to work with the HRC in a new partnership that will support robust NHC recommendations. This fund will also allow us to bridge the gap between research and the practising clinician,” says Anne Kolbe, Chair of the NHC.

Two calls for research have been released under this partnership. The first seeks to support a research project that will help the NHC develop recommendations on the use of renal nerve ablation, a promising therapeutic approach for hard-to-manage hypertension. The second will support research on the use of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) testing to optimise treatment choices for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

“High quality research-derived evidence is critical for the New Zealand health sector, as it continues to improve its effectiveness and efficiency,” says HRC Chief Executive, Dr Robin Olds.

About the Health Innovation Partnership (HIP)
The Health Innovation Partnership (HIP), has been created between the HRC and the NHC to support a coordinated investment in translational research for health and disability related technologies. It is anticipated that research supported through this partnership will gather evidence to inform the NHC’s recommendations regarding the cost effectiveness and prioritisation of new and existing technologies. Research will also identify the conditions and/or knowledge translation strategies that would be needed to support implementation of findings and ways to restructure existing investment to optimise patient outcomes.

The HIP is co-funded by the HRC ($2 million) and the NHC ($3 million) to give a combined budget for funding of $5 million, which is overseen by a steering committee. The steering committee was formed in January 2013 and consists of six members; three from the HRC and three from the NHC. Half of the steering committee are practicing clinicians, with the balance from healthcare research and management.

For information about the HIP please contact Alex Price, Chair, HIP Steering Committee, telephone: (09) 925 5946.

About the National Health Committee (NHC)
The National Health Committee's role is to assist the health and disability sector to spend its funding in the most effective way and enable it to continue to improve the health of New Zealanders within the country's financial resources.

The National Health Committee's (NHC) work includes:

  • assessing new and existing (non-pharmaceutical) health and disability technologies, services, models of care and programmes
  • providing advice to the Minister of Health on their value for money and prioritisation (the assessment and prioritisation of pharmaceuticals remains the responsibility of PHARMAC)
  • assisting the health sector to identify technologies which have reached the end of their life cycle and to exit them in a way which is effective to patients, clinicians and the sector
  • developing an Innovation Fund toi trial, test and assess new diagnostic and treatment innovations, and gather evidence to inform the NHC's cost-effectiveness and prioritisation recommendations.

For information about how the NHC functions, please contact Anne Kolbe, Chair, NHC, telephone: (04) 816 4431.

About the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC)
The HRC is the Crown agency responsible for the management of the Government’s investment in public good health research. Ownership of the HRC resides with the Minister of Health, with funding being primarily provided from Vote Research, Science and Technology. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two Ministers sets out this relationship. Established under the Health Research Council Act 1990, the HRC's statutory functions include:

  • advising the Minister and administering funds in relation to national health research policy
  • fostering the recruitment, education, training, and retention of those engaged in health research in New Zealand
  • initiating and supporting health research
  • undertaking consultation to establish priorities in health research
  • promoting and disseminating the results of health research to encourage their contribution to health science, policy and delivery, and
  • ensuring the development and application of appropriate assessment standards by committees or subcommittees that assess health research proposals.

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