Following Northern Territory Department of Health’s announcement that it will soon become the first pathology provider to link the online test results it is sharing via My Health Record (MHR) with Lab Tests Online, South Australia (SA) Pathology, the statewide pathology provider for the public health sector, has also connected to the MHR.

WHAT’S THE IMPACT

SA Health patients will be able to conveniently access their pathology reports, and clinicians will be able to get pathology results faster. South Australians can now take any pathology request form to any SA Pathology collection centre and their report can be uploaded to their MHR, giving patients timely access to their pathology results.

Having pathology results on an MHR brings about several benefits, such as being able to keep track of tests and know when they were carried out, the ability to monitor results over time and improved access to health information for clinicians and individuals.

ON THE RECORD

“This connection is a great development for SA Pathology and means our customers will now benefit from being able to access their pathology results through MHR. This also will benefit GPs who will be able to have up to date pathology information for their patients,” said SA Pathology Clinical Services Director Dr Tom Dodd in a statement.

Dr Chris Moy, Adelaide General Practitioner and Clinical Reference Lead for the Australian Digital Health Agency, said, “As a GP who is often forced to waste valuable time chasing down pathology results, especially for a new patient, this will make my job easier and the patient's care safer. If that patient had their test carried out by SA Pathology, I will be able to view it immediately on MHR, even if it was ordered by another doctor and not addressed to me. This removes the need for the traditional but dreaded phone around to all the local labs to find these out.”