Health Minister Shane Reti has confirmed $30 million will be spent to improve access to radiology, including by removing co-payments.
It means New Zealanders would no longer need to pay additional fees to access X-rays, CT scans and diagnostic ultrasound, and can be referred directly by GPs instead of going through a hospital specialist.
The money comes from baseline funding for Health NZ Te Whatu Ora, and aims to speed up diagnosis using X-rays, CT scans and diagnostic ultrasound.
Dr Reti said access to radiology for GPs was still varied according to the previous District Health Board rules.
"This means that, for instance, people living in the Hutt Valley don't get the same access to radiology available to people living in Wellington. At the moment, some New Zealanders are having to wait weeks or months to see a hospital specialist who then refer them to radiology services, where they may wait even longer," he said.
"Enabling primary health providers to refer patients directly, without waiting for a specialist, will help New Zealanders get an earlier diagnosis and enable specialists to determine the right treatment, sooner."
It was based on a model that had been put in place already in Canterbury, he said.
He said the first investment from the funding would be $2.6m a year in Wellington and Hutt Valley "to reduce co-payments and recognise increases in imaging numbers as the population becomes older and more complex".
He gave the example of how the system would work for a patient with possible kidney or gall stones.
The current system would see the patient referred to a hospital for a first specialist assessment.
"They then see the specialist who says 'oh, you need an ultrasound'. They then go away, they have a period of time before the ultrasound, they then turn up to the specialist with that ultrasound in their hand and they can progress forward.
"Under this [new] protocol what will happen is GPs will be able to refer to a referral hub which will make a decision where the capacity is ... whether in that timeline it still sits with the public sector or actually if it sits now with the private sector.
"The referral hub will then generate that referral, the scan will be done, the people will then turn up at their first specialist assessment with their scan in their hand. Even before then the referring GP will have some indication ... can make some progress while the person's still waiting for their first specialist assessment."
He said this would reduce the number of specialist assessments to just one in the first instance, and significantly reduce the time between a presumptive diagnosis and a definitive diagnosis.
"This will really reduce timeframes, improve patient care, and this is why GPs have been calling for it for some period of time.
Those in rural communities were less likely to have access to a GP and this new process could also help them get access faster through a private provider, he said.
All this would help New Zealand prepare for an ageing population, with older age groups expected to make up a larger proportion of New Zealanders into the future.
"As people age, obviously issues of frailty, increasing co-morbidities and increasing medication requirements go up," Dr Reti said.