Pathology is a critical component of modern healthcare in Australia, providing crucial information for screening, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring upon which the entire health system is reliant.
Medical practitioners provide pathology services across a range of public and private settings, from small boutique practices to large hospital and community providers.
Pathology services underpin personalised medicine.
“They allow treatment and management of disease to be tailored to the individual,” states the federal AMA’s official Position Statement on pathology services.
“For example, antibiotic sensitivity testing for bacterial infections and genomic testing for cancer and autoimmune diseases prevent unnecessary treatments and allow targeting of expensive therapies to the patients most likely to benefit.”
Pathologists are crucial to any medical team, providing information for diagnosis, screening, formulating treatment plans, and monitoring responses to treatments.
A pathologist’s medical consultation includes advising on the most appropriate test; assuring the quality of testing processes; performing tests and examining biopsies; interpreting results and diagnostic procedures; advising on treatment and management; and notifying treating practitioners or patients of critical results.
Private pathology services are currently reimbursed under a fee-for-service model. The costs are shared between governments, third-party insurers and patients. Most pathology services are bulk billed, but a widening gap between Medicare rebates and the cost of providing services is increasingly impacting on the accessibility, affordability and safety of pathology services.
The AMA’s position paper notes that Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebates for pathology testing have remained stagnant over two decades. Partial indexation to approximately one-third of pathology MBS items was reintroduced in 2024, but these changes were accompanied by specific cuts in rebates for other pathology items.
“Current public funding for pathology services remains inadequate, placing additional pressures on the industry and increasing the likelihood patients will bear out-of-pocket costs,” the AMA says. “Investment in high-quality pathology services saves taxpayers from downstream costs in acute and chronic care, and can greatly improve patients’ experience and outcomes.”
Quality and safety
The AMA supports the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia in providing evidence-based advice and guidance to health professionals and patients on the safe, cost-effective and quality use of pathology services.
The AMA participates in the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council in its role of developing and maintaining standards and guidelines for pathology practices, and it supports the current system of accreditation against these standards as a contributor to maintaining quality standards across the pathology industry.
“Pathologists and other medical practitioners work in collaboration to achieve the best outcome for their patients,” the AMA Position Statement states. “Pathologists and treating medical practitioners regularly confer on the interpretation of results of tests and diagnostic biopsies. This interaction ensures patient care and facilitates quality pathology referrals.”
The AMA encourages greater development and use of shared electronic health records by medical practitioners to improve the safety and quality of medical care in Australia. A shared electronic medical record that links reliable and relevant medical information across healthcare settings will support the best clinical decisions from treating practitioners.
It supports the use of My Health Record to make pathology reports available to healthcare providers and patients in a way that enhances clinical management and care, reduces time wasted by health practitioners, and avoids unnecessary repeat examinations.
