Consumer Engagement

Under the Quality Use of Pathology Program (QUPP), one of the key sub-programs is Quality Consumer Services. The objective of this sub-program is to develop and improve consumer-focussed, accessible and coordinated services that promote informed choice and meet consumer needs.

In this section:

QUPP funding supports the Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists to develop and maintain an Australian version of the US and UK websites. The Australian website provides up-to-date and reliable information for Australian health care consumers about laboratory tests and how they are used. http://www.labtestsonline.org.au.

QUPP funding has been used to support the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF) to undertake a Pathology Consumer Consultation project which included a series of consultations seeking consumers’ input about their experiences with pathology testing and their suggestions for how this could be improved. As part of the project a discussion paper was made available, a series of eight jurisdictional workshops were held across Australia in late 2009, and a national workshop was held in Melbourne in March 2010. CHF also prepared a scoping study of existing literature related to the quality use of pathology and ran an on-line discussion forum. The final report from the Consumer Consultation Project (PDF 352 KB), including recommendations, is now available.