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Abstract

Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand †

by
Catherine Jackson
1,*,
Maya Cohen-Ronen
1,‡,
Peter Smeaton
1,
Denise Smith
2,
Vladimir Obolonkin
3,
Edward Falloon
1,
Brad Motion
1,
Andrew Upton
1 and
Bronwyn Petrie
4
1
Data and Digital, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, P.O. Box 793, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
2
Independent Researcher, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
3
National Public Health Service Northern Region, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, P.O. Box 793, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
4
Planning, Funding and Outcomes, Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, P.O. Box 793, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 22nd Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases, Brisbane, Australia, 1–5 June 2025.
‡
Current address: Wellington Water Ltd., Lower Hutt 5012, New Zealand.
Proceedings 2025, 124(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124028
Published: 22 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 22nd Lancefield International Symposium on Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases (LISSSD 2025))
Versions Notes

1. Background and Aims

Rates of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among New Zealand Māori and Pacific are among the highest reported in high-income countries. Successful delivery of secondary prevention improves health outcomes.

2. Methods

A business case was approved and funded by the Ministry of Health. The 4-year project was initiated in July 2022. Salesforce was approved as the platform. Key informant interviews were completed with existing secondary prevention services and sector stakeholders. Systems requirements were approved and a minimum viable product built and tested. Two existing rheumatic fever (RF) services participated in a pilot phase (Northland, Waikato) with patient data migrated from the existing RF registers, followed by a staggered rollout to other regions.

3. Results

A total of 12 of 18 RF services have been onboarded to the RFCCS with data migrated for 794 patients. Average patient age is 19 years (range 5–63 years), 54% male, 96% Māori or Pacific. Current diagnoses are ARF (77%), ARF recurrence (5%), and non-acute RHD (17%). Current RHD severity is none (35%), mild (28%), moderate (12%), severe (21%—including those post valve repair (5%) or valve replacement (15%)). Early benefits include supporting patient transfer, shared care between two services, and improved prophylaxis timeliness reporting.

4. Conclusions

Systems, processes, and workforce vary by service requiring flexible design and implementation. National systems are important for identifying and addressing equity gaps. Rollout to all services will be completed in 2025, with ongoing enhancements of the solution planned.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, C.J. and M.C.-R.; methodology, C.J.; software P.S., E.F., and B.M.; data curation, C.J., V.O.; writing—original draft preparation, C.J.; writing—review and editing, all authors; project administration, D.S. and A.U.; funding acquisition, B.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This project was funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The Health New Zealand Privacy Review Group approved the Privacy Impact Assessment for this project.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent is obtained for patients registered on the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this abstract are available on request from the corresponding author due to privacy restrictions.

Conflicts of Interest

Maya Cohen-Ronen is now employed by the company Wellington Water Ltd. and declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Jackson, C.; Cohen-Ronen, M.; Smeaton, P.; Smith, D.; Obolonkin, V.; Falloon, E.; Motion, B.; Upton, A.; Petrie, B. Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand. Proceedings 2025, 124, 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124028

AMA Style

Jackson C, Cohen-Ronen M, Smeaton P, Smith D, Obolonkin V, Falloon E, Motion B, Upton A, Petrie B. Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand. Proceedings. 2025; 124(1):28. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124028

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jackson, Catherine, Maya Cohen-Ronen, Peter Smeaton, Denise Smith, Vladimir Obolonkin, Edward Falloon, Brad Motion, Andrew Upton, and Bronwyn Petrie. 2025. "Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand" Proceedings 124, no. 1: 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124028

APA Style

Jackson, C., Cohen-Ronen, M., Smeaton, P., Smith, D., Obolonkin, V., Falloon, E., Motion, B., Upton, A., & Petrie, B. (2025). Development of the Rheumatic Fever Care Coordination System (RFCCS) for Aotearoa New Zealand. Proceedings, 124(1), 28. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2025124028

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