To develop this briefing, the Ministry of Health carried out public consultation on its chosen topic of precision health. It received 71 submissions, largely from healthcare stakeholders. It then undertook consultation on the draft briefing and received 29 submissions from stakeholders, including medical laboratory scientists, researchers, and industry groups.

The Ministry of Health’s inaugural long-term insights briefing focuses on precision health, which the ministry defines as 'the use of technology and information to develop more precise ways of keeping people healthy'. In this briefing, the ministry identifies two areas of rapid growth and innovation that have important implications for precision health. They are geonomics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Genomics and AI were chosen because both are experiencing considerable international interest and rapid technological advancement.