NZ start-up launches AI app for lifetime health records

New Zealand health technology start-up mA.I Health has launched a mobile app designed to give patients a single, secure place to store and share their medical records across healthcare providers and countries.

The product is positioned as a lifetime personal health record that stays with the individual. It is designed for people managing their own care and for families supporting children, older relatives, or other dependants.

Many healthcare systems still rely on separate record stores across general practices, hospitals, specialists, and regional services. As a result, patients often have to repeat information at appointments and keep their own notes, particularly when care spans multiple organisations.

mA.I Health has built a platform intended to store and retrieve information in a way that follows the patient rather than remaining with a single provider. The app aims to give users a single view of their health information and enable sharing when needed.

Personal experience

The idea grew out of Co-Founder Arlene Goodwin's experience navigating medical systems in New Zealand and the United States while caring for her son Luca, who has multiple serious health conditions. She said she became responsible for carrying key details from one appointment to the next, including diagnoses, medications, and risk factors.

"No one has a complete view of your medical history. Records are fragmented - spread across GPs, hospitals, specialists and sometimes even countries. Despite popular belief, your GP isn't the central hub. They don't hold all your data - no single provider does.

"This fragmentation can delay treatment or lead to uninformed decisions, and ultimately result in bad outcomes. That's why mA.I Health was created," said Arlene Goodwin, Co-Founder, mA.I Health.

The company also points to risks in urgent or after-hours care, when clinicians may need to make decisions without a full history. Goodwin described an acquaintance who had a serious complication after a routine after-hours visit, where medication was prescribed without full knowledge of their medical history.

Patient access to records has improved in parts of the health sector through provider portals, lab result apps, and national services. However, gaps can remain when records sit with multiple organisations and access varies by region or provider.

mA.I Health describes the app as provider-agnostic, designed for use across providers and regions with user-controlled access and sharing.

How it works

The app is designed to act as a personal health hub where users can maintain a long-term record and share it with clinicians or trusted contacts. It includes secure sharing and collaboration tools intended to support coordinated care among carers and family members.

Family accounts can cover children, spouses, and parents, managed from one device. The app also uses a permission model so only the user or authorised individuals can view or transmit data, according to the company.

Security and privacy are central to any consumer health record product, particularly one that holds sensitive medical information. mA.I Health says data is encrypted and safeguarded under internationally recognised health and data privacy standards, and that it does not sell user information or use it for data mining.

AI features

mA.I Health describes the app as AI-powered. The company says it can retrieve relevant information quickly and generate personalised health summaries that flag critical history and contraindications for clinicians.

Goodwin also outlined a planned feature for travel use cases, with the company expecting to add translation of medical information.

"I'm not a doctor. I'm a mum who learned out of necessity. But what happens to people who can't advocate for themselves? Who don't remember every detail? Who are alone and away from home, overwhelmed or simply unaware of what's relevant?

"It's not just for complex medical cases - this app is a lifesaver for managing my older, healthy kids too. It means I don't have to hunt around for booklets, ring the doctor or specialist or try to remember their blood types, medication allergies or who had chickenpox. And when they're adults, I can pass on their complete medical history," said Goodwin.

Market context

Digital health products increasingly sit between consumers and traditional healthcare providers, focusing on patient engagement, remote monitoring, and administrative workflow. Personal health record apps have also become more common, although adoption has been uneven and often depends on integration with local services.

Provider portals and national systems typically focus on access within a defined network. A consumer-controlled model, by contrast, relies on patients curating and maintaining their own records and deciding when and how to share them.

mA.I Health is now available for download and plans to add new functionality over time, including translation of medical information for use when travelling.