Health NZ to begin emailing patients for appointments and health information

Forums › Health and fitness › Health NZ to begin emailing patients for appointments and health information

boosacnoodle

943 posts

Ultimate Geek

#319338 15-Apr-2025 09:35

I see in an article today Health NZ will be introducing emails to patients. Sounds good?

"To do this" [..] "We are emailing all patients to confirm that the email address we have on file for them is correct and that they are happy for us to communicate health information with them via email.".

Still sounds reasonable, right? That is until you see the absolute dumpster fire that are the verification emails:

To me, each of these sounds like a scam email (particularly that last one). Given the recent IRD two-factor changes, and this, I feel like we are almost at a point where we are conditioning people to click on the scams. Sigh...

wellygary

8171 posts

Uber Geek

#3364158 15-Apr-2025 09:44

Most GPs appear to have moved to App based appointment and reminder models,

Great to see Central Government reinventing the wheel, rather than adopting an off the shelf model for solving a problem that I bet has been solved in multiple health providers all around the world,

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Ragnor

8185 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3364163 15-Apr-2025 10:06

What from address format were you expecting?

snj

143 posts

Master Geek

#3364166 15-Apr-2025 10:17

Uhhh this isn't a new thing, the Auckland DHBs have been doing this since pre-COVID. Haven't received a physical letter in years. Might be for the best too, for the last 6 months I was getting monthly e-mails along the lines of "You've been waiting X days to see the [service], you are still on the waiting list", would've been wasteful if they sent them via snail mail.

Also worth noting that the three Auckland DHBs and Northland have historically shared services provisioning, which is why the three DHB emails are similar format... can't remember the name of the company they have set up for that these days, was something like Health Alliance.

scuwp

3868 posts

Uber Geek

#3364272 15-Apr-2025 12:31

Great news. Recently having to engage with the Waikato DHB (or whatever they are called now) I was flabbergasted to find they used snail mail for all communications. Surely this was costing time and money they could ill afford and making communications very slow. Would have preferred an app based solution like my GP, but baby steps I guess.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

robjg63

4070 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3364274 15-Apr-2025 12:40

snj:

Uhhh this isn't a new thing, the Auckland DHBs have been doing this since pre-COVID. Haven't received a physical letter in years. Might be for the best too, for the last 6 months I was getting monthly e-mails along the lines of "You've been waiting X days to see the [service], you are still on the waiting list", would've been wasteful if they sent them via snail mail.

Also worth noting that the three Auckland DHBs and Northland have historically shared services provisioning, which is why the three DHB emails are similar format... can't remember the name of the company they have set up for that these days, was something like Health Alliance.

Not true - seems to depend on what department you are dealing with.

Some seem to like printing paper still.

I guess they all have their own sub systems.

Costs money to tidy things up you know - we need to get rid of all these backroom people and IT upgrades.

😒

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

openmedia

3265 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3364276 15-Apr-2025 12:54

boosacnoodle:

I see in an article today Health NZ will be introducing emails to patients. Sounds good?

"To do this" [..] "We are emailing all patients to confirm that the email address we have on file for them is correct and that they are happy for us to communicate health information with them via email.".

Still sounds reasonable, right? That is until you see the absolute dumpster fire that are the verification emails:

donotreply@emailverification.middlemore.co.nz
donotreply@emailverification.adhb.govt.nz
donotreply@emailverification.waitematadhb.govt.nz
patient.notification@tewaipounamu.healthnz.govt.nz
To me, each of these sounds like a scam email (particularly that last one). Given the recent IRD two-factor changes, and this, I feel like we are almost at a point where we are conditioning people to click on the scams. Sigh...

Can we please get legislation to ban the use of donotreply email addresses. Argh...

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

cddt

1403 posts

Uber Geek

#3364286 15-Apr-2025 13:04

snj:

Uhhh this isn't a new thing, the Auckland DHBs have been doing this since pre-COVID. Haven't received a physical letter in years. Might be for the best too, for the last 6 months I was getting monthly e-mails along the lines of "You've been waiting X days to see the [service], you are still on the waiting list", would've been wasteful if they sent them via snail mail.

Not my experience in Auckland. Perhaps because the appointments were for a child, and children don't have email addresses.

We repeatedly received notifications of appointments being made after the date of the appointment. I.e. the letter was printed on the 1st for an appointment on the 8th, but then we only received it on the 11th (thanks NZ Post). Then on the 21st we received another letter stating that since we had missed our appointment, they would reschedule it and send another letter. Then when we received that letter a month later, the new appointment date had passed. This scenario repeated three times until I visited the hospital in person to get an appointment made.

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boosacnoodle

943 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3364289 15-Apr-2025 13:14

Ragnor:

What from address format were you expecting?

Does patient.notification@tewaipounamu.healthnz.govt.nz not look like a scam to you? Why it is not from something.health.nz or health.govt.nz I do not know.

richms

27873 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3364292 15-Apr-2025 13:29

boosacnoodle:

Ragnor:

What from address format were you expecting?

Does patient.notification@tewaipounamu.healthnz.govt.nz not look like a scam to you? Why it is not from something.health.nz or health.govt.nz I do not know.

What its from means nothing with emails without them doing best practace for their dkim and spf config. I look at the intent and call to action in emails to determine if it is lefit or not.

If it had links to a .govt.nz site then it would not be ringing any alarm bells, if it was linking thru some spam company intermediary like pbtechs emails do, then I would probably delete or report spam/phishing.

Richard rich.ms

yitz

2036 posts

Uber Geek

#3364300 15-Apr-2025 13:51

boosacnoodle:

Does patient.notification@tewaipounamu.healthnz.govt.nz not look like a scam to you? Why it is not from something.health.nz or health.govt.nz I do not know.

I agree the service delivery organisation Health NZ should receive the top level domain health.nz, health.govt.nz is the Ministry of Health.

There is already https://info.health.nz/ so don't know why they are using healthnz.govt.nz.

wellygary

8171 posts

Uber Geek

#3364322 15-Apr-2025 15:00

yitz:

so don't know why they are using healthnz.govt.nz.

Because the agency's name is HealthNZ.... for better of worse its what they are called... they are not "Health"

NZTA don't go by TA.govt.nz , and NZ post is not post.co.nz

yitz

2036 posts

Uber Geek

#3364323 15-Apr-2025 15:08

I don't see anything wrong with *.health.nz the former Canterbury DHB had cdhb.health.nz

*.healthnz.govt.nz is long winded and I guess the OP was also thinking of this https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=316266

boosacnoodle

943 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3364326 15-Apr-2025 15:16

Parliament is called New Zealand Parliament yet is www.Parliament.nz, not www.NZParliament.nz for obvious reasons.

allan

2028 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#3364330 15-Apr-2025 15:24

cddt:

snj:

Uhhh this isn't a new thing, the Auckland DHBs have been doing this since pre-COVID. Haven't received a physical letter in years. Might be for the best too, for the last 6 months I was getting monthly e-mails along the lines of "You've been waiting X days to see the [service], you are still on the waiting list", would've been wasteful if they sent them via snail mail.

Not my experience in Auckland. Perhaps because the appointments were for a child, and children don't have email addresses.

We repeatedly received notifications of appointments being made after the date of the appointment. I.e. the letter was printed on the 1st for an appointment on the 8th, but then we only received it on the 11th (thanks NZ Post). Then on the 21st we received another letter stating that since we had missed our appointment, they would reschedule it and send another letter. Then when we received that letter a month later, the new appointment date had passed. This scenario repeated three times until I visited the hospital in person to get an appointment made.

Also letters from specialists in Capital & Coast DHB/HealthNZ. You see one (having of course waited many months to get the appointment) and they say they will write to you to confirm their discussion etc. Five weeks later you get a letter that shows they dictated it the same day, it then waited four weeks to be "approved" and you got it the following week. Who exactly needs to approve it? Don't they trust their own specialist?