Australia National Interoperability Plan aims for safe, seamless sharing of information
Australia’s National Interoperability Plan 2023-2028 recently released by the Australia Digital Health Agency (ADHA), aims to progress Australia towards safe and seamless sharing of consumer health data over the next five years. It addresses the barriers and challenges of the current landscape, and details five priority areas for action including identity, standards, information sharing, innovation and measuring benefits, with a total of 44 actions outlined.
Drawing upon UK’s digital health and interoperability success
The Plan recommends international research into standards and policies regarding digital health technology, specifically mentioning the United Kingdom which recently introduced national minimum standards for procurement of software solutions.
X-Lab welcomes the release of the National Interoperability Plan and is excited to play a role in demonstrating how easy healthcare interoperability can be achieved for the benefit of organisations, staff, consumers, and government.
World’s first system-agnostic Pathology Exchange Network
Since 2007, X-Lab has provided a National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) across England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. NPEx, now known worldwide as Labgnostic, allows laboratories to connect through a single hub enabling test requests and pathology results to be sent digitally between labs in a matter of seconds – irrespective of the in-house LIMS.
Prior to the pandemic about 60% of UK laboratories used Labgnostic. During the pandemic, the UK government awarded X-Lab a contract to connect additional laboratories, to help facilitate faster and more accurate pathology services for coronavirus testing demands. Labgnostic now services 95% of UK laboratories and during the pandemic processed over 500 million Covid-19 tests.
Labgnostic now available across Australasia
X-Lab is now pleased to make Labgnostic available to laboratories across Australia, New Zealand and the Asia-Pacific. Labgnostic meets the information sharing aims of the National Interoperability Plan including:
- All requests for tests, procedures, referrals and consultations are electronic and use an electronic requesting service
- All internal and external health information exchanges are digital
- Information exchanges are safe, seamless and secure
Operational, clinical and financial benefits
The proven benefits of Labgnostic include:
- Faster turnaround times
- Increased productivity
- Reduced manpower costs
- Less paper usage
- Eliminate unnecessary repeat tests and procedures
- Fewer medical errors
- More Accurate data
- Fewer preventable hospitalisations
- Increased patient safety and care outcomes
- Enhanced patient experience with better access to their own data
- More accurate collection and analysis of health data
