Quality assurance for genomic testing for childhood syndromes and intellectual disability
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) Quality Assurance Programs will develop and pilot a quality assurance program.
Some genomic tests for childhood syndromes and intellectual disability are publicly funded. This program will improve and standardise the analysis, interpretation, results and reporting of these tests.
Quality use of non-invasive prenatal rhesus factor D testing
The Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion will map all steps in the pathology testing process for women negative for rhesus factor D.
This project will:
- standardise and improve clinical testing pathways to help
- general practitioners (GPs)
- obstetricians
- pathologists
- ensure use of anti-D prophylaxis is appropriate and in line with guidance from the National Blood Authority.
RCPA manual 2022–2023
The RCPA will revise and publish an electronic version of its RCPA Manual.
The manual will:
- be a portable, accessible and complete resource
- help health practitioners choose pathology tests appropriately and efficiently.
Quality assurance program for genomic pathology reports
The RCPA Quality Assurance Programs will develop an external quality assurance program to:
- identify the discipline-specific requirements for genomic pathology
- measure the quality of genomic pathology reports using best-practice guidelines or standards.
Self-collection vs practitioner collection project 2
The Victorian Cytology Service will compare human papillomavirus (HPV) nucleic acid amplification testing of:
- self-collected specimens
- specimens collected by a clinician.
It will compare the sensitivity, specificity and concordance of the testing of each specimen type.
GP resources to promote best-practice in pathology ordering
Medcast provides health professional education. It will develop a multifaceted educational intervention for GPs. This resource will support GPs to:
- use pathology tests more effectively
- reduce the harms of non-rational test ordering
- decrease costs from low-value test ordering.
Emergency Department Pathology Order Support Tool
Macquarie University will design an intelligent digital health pathology ordering support tool for clinicians in hospital emergency departments. It will:
- promote appropriate, safe and effective use of pathology
- use patient data to help decide appropriate pathology orders
- provide clinicians with information that will help them to choose pathology tests wisely
- reduce over-testing for lower risk patients and reduce under-testing in higher risk categories.
Pathology Informatics Interoperability Pilot
This RCPA project seeks to show that using their Standardised Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA) Guidelines provides:
- interoperability advantages
- benefits for the pathology sector and patients.
Pathology workforce review and planning strategies 2023–2024
This RCPA project will:
- measure the state of the pathology workforce
- develop strategies to address workforce supply and demand gaps.
It will focus on fields where there are shortages, such as:
- genetic pathology
- immunopathology
- chemical pathology.
Enhancing the Pathology Tests Explained website
The Australasian Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine will develop new:
- consumer-focused content for 40 pathology tests for the Pathology Tests Explained website
- downloadable patient information sheets for the tests.
Electronic Clinical Decision Support workflow requirements
The RCPA will:
- assess the compliance of pathology laboratory information systems against the SPIA Guidelines for receiving and reporting eReferrals
- conduct a survey of GPs with varying degrees of electronic Clinical Decision Support usage.
Collected data from both approaches will help inform strategies to:
- support engagement
- encourage best-practice
- reduce inappropriate pathology requesting.
Feedback on pathology requesting practices of emergency department clinicians
Monash University will use digital health techniques to give feedback on pathology requesting practices in 11 hospitals.
The feedback will be customised for each clinician. It aims to help clinicians in emergency departments to:
- improve the quality of clinical care
- reduce inappropriate pathology ordering.
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