Attributed to Darren Douglass, Health New Zealand Digital Services Acting Chief Information Technology Officer:

Health New Zealand will be contacting healthcare providers to remind them they should be meeting all minimum cybersecurity and privacy requirements to keep people’s health information safe.

People need and deserve confidence that their private and sensitive health information is secure. Protecting patient data is a priority across the health system.

Health NZ supports MediMap’s decision to seek a court injunction to help protect the information of any impacted individuals as a result of unauthorised access to its platform. As a private company, MediMap is solely responsible for ensuring the security of that platform. 

We have sought assurances from MediMap over the steps it is taking to manage this incident and minimise potential impacts. 

We are supporting MediMap’s response and have activated our Cyber Incident Management Team. We continue to work closely with other relevant agencies to coordinate a system-wide response, including Police and the National Cyber Security Centre.

While some resident and patient information may have been accessed, patients and residents will continue to receive the same level of care while the MediMap platform remains offline. We thank healthcare providers and their staff for their professionalism and commitment to maintaining continuity of care during this time.

MediMap’s has advised us its priority remains clear communication with its customers, patients, residents, and families, while working to restore its platform as quickly and safely as possible.