154. Why has the Department of Health (DoH) sent correspondence to the RACGP flagging a campaign to ‘reduce GP requesting of combinations of MBS pathology items where there is no clinical indication of a serious illness and where pathology tests are unlikely to support diagnosis or management of the patient’s health concern’? Why is the Department of Health putting pressure on GPs to take shortcuts when diagnosing patients?

Question Number: 174
PDR Number: SQ22-000543
Date Submitted: 21/11/2022
Department or Body: Department of Health

The GP Pathology Requesting Project aims to promote the clinically relevant use of pathology tests. The project provided GPs with feedback and access to educational materials intended to encourage GPs to consider opportunities to reduce pathology requesting where testing will not change a patient’s treatment plan or improve their health outcomes. It did not restrict a GP’s clinical decision making and acknowledged that their current practice may be appropriate for their patient cohort or medical specialisation. The letter was educational in nature and was not part of a compliance campaign. There is no risk of penalty to GPs who choose not to take any action in response to the letter. The design of the project has taken into account that patterns of pathology referral can be due to GPs having specific patient demographics or specialisations, and that certain combinations of tests are commonly necessary to support the management of particular conditions, such as diabetes or pregnancy. The Department of Health and Aged Care (the department) does not discourage clinically relevant pathology requesting, so in consultation with a range of health experts sought to exclude any combinations of tests that are often clinically necessary for certain populations of patients. The department also sought advice on resources available for GPs who would like to review current clinical guidelines for pathology requesting and provided these to letter recipients. During the development of the project, representatives of several medical peak bodies, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), attended workshops with the department to discuss trends in pathology testing which may indicate overuse of certain tests or combinations of tests. Following on from these workshops, a draft letter was sent to several peak bodies including RACGP for further feedback, which was incorporated into the final letter design. Letters were mailed out in mid-May 2022. Prior to this mail out, the peak bodies involved with consultation, including RACGP, were advised of the upcoming mailout and provided with information which they were invited to distribute to their members. The information emphasised that the project was educational in nature and provided links to resources on clinically appropriate pathology requesting.