The Federal Government has signed an agreement with the Australian Association of Pathology Practices, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the National Coalition of Public Pathology under which expenditure growth  on pathology through Medicare will be capped to approximately 5% per annum, resulting in savings of $550 million over the five-year period of the agreement.

 

Key components of the five-year agreement include:

 

  • commitment to improve transparency for setting and reviewing pathology fees, including a new role for the Medical Services Advisory Committee to assess the cost-effectiveness of new pathology tests;
  • commitment to develop a National Pathology Framework covering issues like workforce development and laboratory accreditation;
  • integration of pathology results within e-health records;
  • engage with GP stakeholder groups to investigate ways to improve support services to GPs to better request pathology services;
  • establish a working party to develop an approach for genetic services;
  • maintain the Government’s competition reforms to ensure that big and small players alike can open new pathology collection centres.

 

The agreement has been supported by representatives of the pathology workforce and a majority of the industry in the public and private sectors, including Catholic Health Australia. A Pathology Agreement Advisory Committee will be established to oversee and provide advice to the Government on the agreement.