Leaders needed to see patterns, understand what was changing, and explain it clearly to the board. So in 2021, Health Hawke's Bay partnered with AskYourTeam to build a continuous way of listening across the region.

A real pulse on the patient experience

AskYourTeam introduced a live feedback loop tied directly to patient visits. After each appointment, patients receive a short survey, creating continuous signals instead of delayed recollections. For the first time, practices could log in at any moment and see how patients were feeling that day, week, or month. Leaders can now look back across staffing changes, seasonal pressures, or new clinical technology and tools and see how patient sentiment shifted in real time.

The new rhythm also changed how complaints were interpreted. Instead of treating complaints as isolated events, practices could view them against surrounding patient data to understand whether they signalled a broader trend or a single moment.

With AskYourTeam, our practices can finally see how care is landing in real time. If staff are away or a new clinician starts, they can look back and understand the impact on patients. Even complaints make more sense because we can see whether it was one off or part of a pattern."

Irihāpeti Mahuika, CEO, Health Hawke's Bay.

Making Māori equity a leadership conversation

Equity for Māori sits at the heart of Health Hawke’s Bay’s strategy. AskYourTeam became a mechanism to make it visible and measurable. Health Hawke’s Bay introduced four Māori specific questions to capture whether patients felt respected, whether care was available when needed, whether they received appropriate care, and whether they felt involved in decisions about their treatment. For Māori, the experience in the room can determine whether care is sought at all.

These questions aligned directly to organisational priorities and became part of quarterly board reporting. It is easy to count wait times, billing, or the number of appointments, but without the right tool it is hard to count how respected someone felt.

"I have always been curious about how to measure the feeling side of general practice. AskYourTeam gives us a way to bring science to that experience."

Itihāpeti Mahuika, CEO, Health Hawke's Bay.

 

The data surfaced movements that annual surveys had never revealed. In one quarter, Māori reporting involvement in decisions jumped from 93% to 98%. Other indicators rose into the mid to high nineties. The following quarter, after onboarding more practices and introducing new clinical tools, those same measures dropped to around 80%. Instead of treating the drop as a failure, Mahuika treated it as a reason to look closer.

There is always a story within the data. “Our job as leaders is to ask what is happening underneath. Are new clinicians approaching care differently? Is AI technology changing the experience of being in the room? Without continuous feedback we could not ask these questions in a meaningful way,” says Mahuika. 

A single source of truth for board and leaders

AskYourTeam also changed how patient experience was discussed at leadership and governance level. Instead of relying on stories alone, Health Hawke’s Bay now had information they could stand behind. When boards or funders asked where the numbers came from, there was a clear method to point to.

"When you are making decisions about people's care, you need more than stories, but you also need more than numbers. Boards ask where the data comes from and whether it reflects real experience. AskYourTeam helps us bridge that gap. It gives us insight we can stand behind."

Irihāpeti Mahuika, CEO, Health Hawke's Bay.

 

With trusted information in hand, patient experience and equity for Māori could be discussed with confidence. Decisions were grounded in lived experience and improvement became easier to drive.

The impact when listening becomes how you work

Since adopting AskYourTeam, Health Hawke’s Bay now hears from patients all year round, not just once a year.

• Live pulse across many of the 23 supported practices that care for 175,000 patients

• Equity measurement integrated into quarterly board reporting

• Māori involvement in decisions rising from 93% to 98% in one quarter

• Trusted data suitable for governance and audit

• High advocacy from practices using AskYourTeam

• Improved cultural insight enabling curiosity and practical change
  

By replacing annual snapshots with continuous insights, Health Hawke’s Bay has empowered practices to notice what patients need in the moment and understand what equity for Māori truly looks like in everyday primary care.