Case Study 1 - ARC Aged Care Demand Forecasting
The Problem New Zealand's aged residential care sector required ongoing national monitoring to ensure that supply of ARC placements was keeping pace with projected demand - but that required consistent, reliable data gathered across a fragmented sector.
The Approach I managed a national quarterly survey process end-to-end: designing and running the survey, collating responses, and providing analytical commentary on the supply vs demand picture at each reporting period. I then coordinated with the external organisation responsible for the forecasting model to ensure it was updated with current data each cycle.
The Outcome The process gave planners and policymakers a regular, credible view of ARC supply and demand nationally - supporting evidence-based decisions in a sector under significant demographic pressure.
Case Study 2 - Virtual RN Telehealth Pilot: Reporting & Data Capture
The Problem Rural and independent aged residential care facilities across New Zealand were facing RN vacancy rates of around 45% — a workforce crisis made worse by COVID-19 border closures and rising clinical complexity. A telehealth pilot using Microsoft Teams explored whether an overnight Virtual RN service could safely support care delivery in these facilities.
The Approach I helped design and implement the reporting and data capture system underpinning the pilot. Using Microsoft Teams-based forms, I built a solution that was quick enough for clinicians working overnight, comprehensive enough to capture every Virtual RN and HCA interaction, and structured to feed daily performance reporting and escalation processes.
The Outcome The system gave stakeholders real-time visibility of clinical demand, intervention types, and operational safety — providing the evidence base needed to assess the pilot's effectiveness and drive continuous improvement. It demonstrated that with the right digital infrastructure, innovative care models can be delivered safely and transparently, even under significant workforce pressure.
Case Study 3 - National radiology reporting framework — Health New Zealand
A radiology reporting framework built to manage a complex, multi-provider services agreement — presented to the national Radiology Clinical Reference Group, endorsed as best practice, and recommended for replication nationwide.
A few years ago I built a radiology reporting framework for a DHB in Hamilton, tracking procedure volumes, provider spend, and service utilisation across ultrasound and X-ray — by body site, financial year, and patient cohorts including age, gender, location, and deprivation index.
It started as an internal tool in Excel, migrated through to QlikSense before finally becoming a Power BI file, to give our team visibility over a complex, multi-provider radiology services agreement. I showed it as a work in progress to the Radiology Portfolio Manager and some of the clinicians associated with the team I was working in.
It then attracted wider attention from colleagues, who could now visualise what was happening with GP referrals to community and outsourced providers — something that had not previously been possible.
Eventually I was asked to present the work to the Chair and some members of the national Radiology Clinical Reference Group. They advised it was best practice and something that needed to be replicated nationwide. I handed the work over to colleagues prior to transferring to Health New Zealand.
The Problem A multi-provider radiology services agreement spanning nine providers and two procedure types had no consistent framework for monitoring expenditure, comparing provider performance, or tracking utilisation at a population level. There was no visibility over GP referral patterns to community providers, and no standardised procedure classification to enable meaningful analysis or national comparison..
The Approach I designed and built a Power BI reporting framework integrating multi-provider invoicing data with population-level NHI records,. The model tracked expenditure by provider, body site, procedure type, and financial year; monitored actual spend against contracted monthly budgets; and distinguished unique from total patient counts to enable accurate utilisation analysis. After an initial demonstration to the portfolio manager and clinical team, I was asked to present the work directly to the national Radiology Clinical Reference Group.
The Outcome The framework was endorsed by the Reference Group as best practice and recommended for replication across Health New Zealand. At the point of handover, national rollout was underway. The model covered 81,000+ unique patients and nine providers, and provided the first consistent basis for cross-provider radiology performance comparison in the network.
This project reinforced something I now bring to every engagement: the data is rarely the problem - what matters is connecting it to the decisions that matter. When you do that clearly, and at the right level of detail, people are able to act on it.