AI presents ‘massive opportunity’ in healthcare

AI presents ‘massive opportunity’ in healthcare: ProCare’s Bindi Norwell

NZ Doctor 24 September 2026

Ninety-four per cent of general practices in the ProCare network are now using artificial intelligence, but only 61 per cent of the individuals working in those practices are doing so, according to ProCare Group chief executive Bindi Norwell. Meanwhile, only 33 per cent are widely using the technology across their clinics.

“At a system-wide practice level, we’re not really adopting AI as much as we could be,” Ms Norwell says.

Speaking at the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association’s annual conference in Auckland today, Ms Norwell revealed the statistics from a recent survey by the PHO. Her presentation was looking at the use of AI and technology to improve health outcomes.

She described the health system as facing a perfect storm, with 50 per cent of GPs set to retire in the next five to 10 years, an ageing population which will see 25 per cent of New Zealanders over 65 by 2025, and more clinicians facing burnout.

“But what we’ve found is that with all of the challenges there is a massive opportunity with AI and technology.”

Technology like AI can help reduce time spent on clinical documentation, increase a clinician’s time with patients and reduce burnout, she says.

Ms Norwell highlighted some examples of new research using AI and technology, including an MIT-led study looking at analysing scans up to 1000 times faster and a New Zealand AI pilot using retinal screening to detect diabetes.

“There’s a lot happening...It’s changing so fast, so how do we keep up with the rate of adoption?”

While some staff are more open to using AI and other technology than others, she says it is important there is education and training available to show them the benefits. And it’s vital that AI tools deliver better outcomes and a return on the investment of practices.

But such technology is incredibly expensive, Ms Norwell says.

“So, we need to get smarter with the way we look at innovation. And that’s how Health Accelerator has been really valuable for us.”

Joint venture seeks to foster technology rollout

Health Accelerator is a joint venture involving PHOs Pegasus, Pinnacle, ProCare and Tū Ora Compass Health and was formed in July last year to “fast-track” the development of digital tools for primary care providers. 

The venture gives participating practices access to a range of digital assistants, or “robots”, powered by Robotic Process Automation. These tools enable them to handle structured, repetitive clinical and administrative tasks directly within their practice management systems.

“It’s proving really successful and we’ve just started and there’s a lot more to do,” Ms Norwell says.

Because the joint venture involves four different PHOs with 1.8 million patients, this means if technology is assessed and is viable for general practices, it can then be easily rolled out nationwide.

“We’ve used this model to test at scale. So, we’ve got innovations that are happening globally that we can now bring to New Zealand.

“And we’ve already seen some great results from robots.”

Robot saves practices $1 million in six months

This includes an ACC assistant “robot” that can scan a PMS for unclaimed ACC visits and immediately submit claims.

Ms Norwell says the robot shows how automated systems can tap into otherwise lost revenue.

“We realised our clinicians were so busy that they were often not claiming all of the funding they were entitled to.”

The bot has already saved practices $1 million in six months, she says.

“The practices are getting paid. ACC called me the other day and said, ‘Why are we getting sent all these bills?’”

Health Accelerator also has robots that can process cardiovascular risk assessments, specialist referral messages and process cervical screening results.