Facts about pathology in Aotearoa New Zealand
Pathology in Aotearoa is defined by community pathology and hospital pathology. Community pathology is all services delivered for patients outside of the hospital.
Community pathology has always been provided by private healthcare providers in New Zealand (called funded-sector providers). Currently 98% of the community service is provided by the funded sector.
There are three funded sector providers of pathology in Aotearoa; Awanui Group, Pathlab (Pathology Associates) and Medlab Central.
60% of hospital pathology is serviced through public hospital labs. The remaining 40% is serviced by the funded sector.
In New Zealand and internationally, 70% of medical decisions and 100% of cancer diagnoses rely upon laboratory diagnostics in both community and hospital facilities.
The services delivered by the pathology sector in New Zealand include:
Supporting accurate diagnosis by assessing type, aggressiveness and stage of a disease.
Enabling clinicians to make informed decisions about patient treatment, management and follow-up care.
Supporting public health and epidemiology experts by identifying and monitoring the patterns and spread of infectious diseases, detecting outbreaks, and assessing the effectiveness of interventions and preventive measures.
Cancer detection and diagnosis to determine the type, stage, and spread for the appropriate treatment plans, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or targeted therapies.
Providing insight and understanding into the underlying causes and progression of diseases crucial for the development of new treatments and therapies.
Enabling personalised / precision medicine by providing essential information about an individual’s health at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels, and monitors treatment response.
Procure, train, manage data, and facilitate the implementation of Point of Care technology to enable hard to reach communities to have access to diagnostics, and provide alternatives for vulnerable communities to interact with healthcare services.
Undertaking research and collaboration with other researchers and organisations such as universities and professional bodies for developing new diagnostic techniques and accuracy, advancing medical knowledge, and treatment and care.
Quality assurance to ensure the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic tests and procedures contributing to patient safety and the overall quality of healthcare delivery.