Dr Bowers described the electronic prescribing pilot scheme he led at two Dunedin Hospital wards that radically cut prescription form errors, and said "hump funding" was needed to make it permanent and extend it to all areas of the hospital.
Dunedin could be a world leader in such innovations because of its size and depth of expertise.
Electronic prescribing could save lives through preventing medication errors, and Dr Bowers said the health sector needed to grasp technological tools to improve safety.
The scheme did not measure how many adverse events it prevented, but evidence showed "botch-ups" often originated from small errors, such as an illegible signature on a form.
A stumbling block to regional innovation was "30 people with clipboards" from Wellington wishing to control such schemes.
National list MP Michael Woodhouse said New Zealand's health sector did not have the appetite for radical restructuring to deal with concerns there were too many DHBs and organisations. It had initially been his personal wish to see structural change when he entered politics, but the National-led Government had driven change without major upheaval.
Changes include establishing the National Health Board and National IT Health Board, and symposium organiser Associate Prof Robin Gauld, in an earlier session, asked Associate Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman about territory "battles" between the new entities.
Prof Gauld questioned what was in place to co-ordinate the agencies.
Dr Coleman said Health Minister Tony Ryall kept a close eye on entities like the National Health Board.
Dr Coleman said the Government's emphasis on targets such as ED waiting times made district health boards accountable and transparent.
Dr Coleman said there had been resistance to measuring health outcomes in some services, but it was the best way to determine if something worked. He acknowledged the quality of New Zealand's healthcare was "uneven", and the challenge was to provide consistency.
