The fourth Sysmex Award for Innovation in Health Informatics was presented to Alexandra Gower at the HINZ (Health Informatics New Zealand) Conference at Sky City in Auckland this week, for her essay on the development of a smartphone application for patient medication management.

Alexandra’s essay proposed an innovative smart phone application titled MyMedsNZ which would be interoperable with the New Zealand electronic Prescription System (NZePS) to help patients track their medications and improve adherence.

Sysmex CEO, James Webster, says that “Alexandra’s essay was relevant and innovative, as it considered current national health IT initiatives and outlined a patient focused solution. A solution such as this could be particularly effective for patients with chronic disease taking long-term medications. The essay acknowledged that health innovation is about exploring new opportunities that will continually improve health care delivery. The proposed innovation could assist healthcare providers by supporting patients with self-management of their medication, closely coupled with core national systems”.

The Sysmex Award is presented each year to a student enrolled in third year Health Informatics course at the University of Auckland. The judging panel from the University and Sysmex take into account innovation, use of technology and feasibility when selecting the winning paper.

As the award winner, Alexandra receives a cash prize and entry to the 2014 HINZ Conference with the award being presented at the gala dinner event. The Sysmex Award for Health Informatics was established in 2011 by Sysmex New Zealand, with the purpose of encouraging excellence in health informatics education by helping to foster innovative thinking.

“Participating in the innovation essay has been so interesting and really helped to deepen my understanding of health informatics and innovation in healthcare. The essay was a great learning opportunity, and I am honoured and very grateful to receive this fantastic prize” says Alexandra. She plans to progress her studies to a medical degree in 2015.