The value of pathology

(Aotea News, May 2010)

Dr Karen Wood
Aotea Pathology
Chief Executive

Welcome to this first edition of Aotea News in its refreshing, new format.

We like the look, but, more than that, the layout is designed so the information you need to run your practice is easy to find.

In many ways, this new Aotea News is much like our mission here at Aotea Pathology: to provide a quality pathology service that is accessible, sustainable and of value to all.

We know, to achieve this aim, that the best community pathology services are planned, commissioned and delivered as part of a community health care network.

To help develop that goal, we continue to pursue opportunities to work collaboratively with health care providers, decisions makers and funders to revise and improve the delivery of laboratory information.

A good current example is the development of electronic ordering for laboratory tests.

The system aims to improve test selection and streamline test ordering, and we look forward to piloting this new initiative soon.

Overall, pathology testing plays an essential role in disease prevention, medical diagnosis, chronic disease management and guiding clinical decisions.

One estimate is that 70 per cent of all clinical decisions are underpinned by pathology. It’s hard to quantify an
exact number, but we do know that as medicine becomes increasingly complex, diagnostic pathology around
the world is used to identify complex health states, identify predisposition to disease, characterise an individual’s state of wellbeing and inform clinical decision making about personalised health care delivery.

A good example of this is in cancer medicine, where almost every diagnosis relies on pathology laboratory medicine.

Internationally there is a need and an expectation for clinical laboratories to deliver value for patients and
population health. This goes far beyond simply diagnosing disease -- we know that the effectiveness of screening and prevention programmes is enhanced by access to quality laboratory medicine.

As we said to our patients in their recent newsletter, Aotea Pathology works not only to ensure the best quality test results are available but also to play an important role in each patient’s cycle of care and, in the community, to facilitate good health and lessen the burden of ill health.

Our work with you over the coming year and beyond will help strengthen that role.