Auckland sees jump in e-ordering of lab tests

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Electronic ordering of lab tests is on the rise in Auckland, jumping from just 10 percent of referrers using the digital system pre-Covid, to 42 percent now.

Brent Glanville, chief information officer at the Asia Pacific Healthcare Group (APHG), says the lab test provider is working with the Northern Region DHBs to further increase the use of e-ordering by GPs.

APHG has a national network of 25 laboratories and is the only community laboratory provider in Auckland. Uptake of its Sysmex Eclair electronic system varies across the country, with some areas, such as Nelson Marlborough DHB, at around 70 percent, while the national average is 44 percent.

Glanville says there has been a significant increase in use of electronic ordering in Auckland over the past two years as GPs have increasingly looked to paperless systems and moved towards more telehealth consults.

Between August and December 2021 alone, the number of GPs signed up jumped from 27 percent to 34 percent and 4600 referrers (including GPs, nurse practitioners and midwives) are now onboard with e-ordering.

The lab provider is presenting a plan to the Northern Region DHBs to increase e-ordering across the region, which will involve a series of consultations and workshops with GPs.

“Those will be looking at what can be done to improve the entire e-ordering service by minimising any barriers and getting greater uptake because there's benefits for everybody,” Glanville says.

He says quality and accuracy of lab orders are the primary benefits of going electronic.

Also, when changes are made to the way tests are processed, these can be pushed out to the ordering system automatically. The digital system also allows for reporting on patients who have not presented for their lab test, allowing investigation into any equity issues.

“We're making every effort to get out to all of the practices as going electronic is a system change that is reasonably significant for GPs,” Glanville says.

“You need to provide them with a system that's easy to use and speed is also an issue as any internet provisioned application is inherently going to be a bit slower than one that runs from your desktop, but we've been working really hard to make improvements speed wise.”

APHG has worked with Sysmex to improve speed in recent months and that is reflected in the increasing number of GPs using the system, he says.

GP at Papatoetoe Family Doctors and winner of the 2021 Clinical Informatics Leadership Award, Karl Cole, says the user experience for electronic ordering of lab tests does not reflect GP workflows and is time consuming.

Cole has been using electronic ordering for a couple of years because it is better for his patients, but welcomed the idea to collaborate on making it better for GPs and improving uptake.

His practice recently trained staff to use an app for ordering Covid-19 tests, originally developed for use in managed isolation facilities and then rolled out to community testing centres.

He says that completely paperless system is a good example of one that works well for GPs and saves significant amounts of time. A nurse who could do 20 swabs a day on the old system was able to do 70 a day using the app and felt less tired at the end of the day, Cole says.

“It uses a barcode that scans via a phone app and that’s a massive leap forward,” he says.

“It’s currently only used for Covid tests, but it’s applicable for use in other areas and could be extended nationally.”



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