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Review of Funding of Pathology

Review of Funding of Pathology Services

The Government requested a detailed review of funding arrangements for pathology, to ensure that the Government is paying the right amount to support access for patients to quality pathology services.

The Review of Pathology Funding Arrangements (the Review) has been completed and outcome is a five-year Pathology Funding Agreement between the Government and the pathology sector, to come into effect from 1 July 2011. A formal announcement by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, was made on 11 April 2011, in advance of the Federal Budget.

This Agreement has been the culmination of the work of the Pathology Review Consultation Committee (PRCC) and submissions to the discussion papers. The advice provided by stakeholders was extremely valuable and is reflected in the Agreement.

While the Agreement is primarily a mechanism to manage pathology outlays, it also provides for the development of many other initiatives including:

• the development of a National Pathology Framework;
• the development of better decision support for pathology requesting to improve the quality and clinical appropriateness of requesting;
• the implementation of electronic requesting and reporting of pathology across the sector;
• the development of appropriate policy and funding mechanisms for genetic services;
• ensuring a sustainable workforce for pathology;
• a commitment to the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council, National Association of Testing Authorities/ Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia laboratory accreditation;
• ongoing funding for the Quality Use of Pathology Program; and
• a commitment to the Government’s broader e-Health agenda, including adoption of National e-Health Transition Authority standards in relation to the Personally-Controlled Electronic Health Record.

A copy of the Agreement can be found by clicking here (PDF 411 KB)

Background to the Review

The Review took place against the background of the Government’s broader agenda to ensure that spending on health is sustainable, affordable and provides maximum benefit to the greatest number of people, which will involve continued emphasis on savings and efficiencies.

The review took place in the broader context of reviewing the MBS including the review of funding of diagnostic imaging. It also aligned with other review and reform agendas including the MBS Quality Framework, the Review of Health Technology Assessment, the Primary Care Strategy and the National Health and Hospital Reform Commission.
The review of pathology had three key tasks:

• To establish appropriate fee relativities for MBS items for different pathology disciplines;
• To identify groups of pathology tests that might be appropriate for different funding arrangements; and
• To provide detailed options for implementing tendering for selected pathology services.

The review focused on pathology services currently funded through the MBS. The review did not examine issues around the requesting of and demand for pathology services, except when it was relevant in considering how services are funded.

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Related Pathology Review Pages

Terms of Reference
Pathology Review Consultation Committee
Discussion Paper
Contact the Pathology Review Team