Turning shared purpose into real change

Innovating primary health, empowering care.

Health Accelerator is an innovation hub dedicated to developing and deploying digital solutions that support primary healthcare providers.

Innovation can be slow and fragmented when organisations work in isolation. Network4 established Health Accelerator to overcome these challenges - pooling resources, insights and expertise to fast-track the development of digital solutions that solve real-world problems for primary healthcare providers.

The goal is to empower primary healthcare teams by reducing administrative burden, improving clinical workflows and enhancing patient experiences - so doctors, nurses, and practice staff can spend more time doing what they do best: caring for people.

New Zealand's National Telehealth Service, Whakarongorau Aotearoa, is a social enterprise jointly owned by ProCare and Pegasus Health that provides Government-funded free to the public, 24/7 national triage, prevention, and wellbeing services across digital channels. Those 30+ services include Healthline, 1737 Need to talk? the national mental health helpline, Quitline, the national sexual harm service Safe to talk, the cervical and bowel national screening coordination centres, and ambulance secondary triage. Last year Whakarongorau supported over 700,000 people, and managed 1.1 million contacts, improving access, resolution, and choice for tāngata whai ora / people seeking wellness.

For Network4, Whakarongorau represents one of the most significant examples of what co-investment can achieve at scale - a nationally accessible service that extends the reach of primary care beyond the consulting room, available to everyone, any time.

Practice Plus is a same-day telehealth service that connects patients with a GP, urgent care specialist or nurse practitioner by video or phone - usually within hours. Developed through a partnership between Tū Ora Compass Health, Pinnacle and Pegasus Health, it is designed to extend, not replace, the patient's relationship with their own general practice. Notes from every appointment are sent back to the patient's regular clinical team, keeping care connected, and continuous.

The service widens access to primary care for patients who need same-day support, live remotely, or can't easily get to their own practice - while keeping general practice at the centre of their care.

Established in 2017, the GP/NP MRI Training programme enables GPs and Nurse Practitioners to refer patients directly for MRI imaging, removing the need for a specialist referral first. Delivered by ProCare, Pegasus Health and Pinnacle in collaboration with ACC, it trains clinicians across the motu on three diagnostic pathways: knee, lumbar spine and cervical spine injuries.

By putting referral capability directly in the hands of general practice clinicians, the programme cuts waiting times, reduces unnecessary specialist appointments and gets patients into the right treatment faster - a practical, low-cost innovation with meaningful impact for patients and the system alike.