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Pathology Requests

  • Updated

In this article:

Gentu supports the creation, printing and recording of pathology requests, creating workflows which allow you to keep track of outstanding requests for each patient.

 

Before you begin

Before creating pathology requests, you will need to enter the details for the pathology laboratory into Gentu.

  1. Navigate to Address Book
  2. Click Add> Lab
  3. In the new screen, enter the laboratory name and any other details you require. 
  4. Enter the doctor code (provided by the laboratory) for each doctor.
  5. Click Save.  

 

Create a pathology request

1. From the patient's appointment or record, select Add > Request.
2. Choose the required Lab.
3. In the Examination section, type keywords for the required test and choose a result from the list presented. You can add as many tests as are required.

If you cannot find the test in the list presented, you will now see the option to add your own test. 

Type in the name of your test and click Create Test at the bottom of the list, this will create a custom copy of your test which is committed to your database for use at any time.

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4. Enter the Clinical Reason for requesting the test/s. This information is optional.
5. In the Copy To field, you can search your address book for doctors to include on these results. 
6. If you are printing onto a form which includes labels, tick Print Labels. 
7. If the request is urgent, tick Urgent.
8. If the patient does not consent to having their pathology results uploaded to My Health Record, tick the Do not send reports to My Health Record box. (See below for more information.)
9. Click Print to save and print your request. 

The tests available in the Examination are based on the Standard Terminology data published by the The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA).

 

Pathology Sets

If you find that you are often requesting the same group of tests together, you can create Sets in Pathology requests. Sets creates a grouping of tests, which allows all tests to a new request at once.

To create a set:

  1. Open a new request.
  2. Search for the tests you wish to add to your set.
  3. When you are happy with the tests, click the Create Set button.
  4. In the Name field, give your test a name.
  5. Click the Tick icon to finalise the Set.

You have now successfully added your set, which can be used by simply searching the set name in the search box to select.

 To delete a set:

  1. Search for the set you wish to delete. 
  2. In the list, click the trash can icon to delete the set from your database. 

 

Print a request

Pathology requests generated in Gentu use a generic template which is designed to be compatible with a range of pre-printed forms from major pathology laboratories.

At the present time it is not possible to edit or change the pathology print-out template. 

To ensure that the request prints correctly, the following print settings are recommended:

  • Paper size should be set to A4
  • Scale should be Actual Size or 100%.
  • Any 'Scale to fit' options should be disabled. 

You can change these settings in the browser's print dialog box which appears when you click Save in the new request window.

Note: because the pathology request uses a fixed template, there may be some minor alignment variances between forms. As long as this does not compromise the legibility of the request this is normal. 

 

Review pathology requests

Once a pathology request has been created, the record of the request is stored in Results/Letters > Diagnostic Requests.

A notification of the total number of outstanding requests will also appear in the patient details banner within each patient's file:

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Clicking on this icon will open Diagnostic Requests and filter only requests for this patient, to assist you with quickly locating outstanding requests for a patient. 

You can click on any request in Diagnostic Requests to open it and review the details of the original request.

 

Reprint a request

If you wish to reprint a request, for instance if the patient has lost their original form:

  • Find the request within Results/Letters > Diagnostic Requests.
  • Alternatively, click on the requests notification in the patient details banner within the patient's file.
  • Click on the test name to open the details window.
  • Click Reprint.

Note that you cannot change any details on the original request after it has been printed. However, you can tick or untick the Print Labels checkbox as needed if you need to reprint the request.

 

Recreate a request

Requests cannot be changed once they are printed/saved, but you can recreate a request from an existing test.

  • Find the request within Results/Letters > Diagnostic Requests.
  • Alternatively, click on the requests notification in the patient details banner within the patient's file.
  • Click on the test name to open the details window.
  • Click Copy.
  • Gentu will recreate the test as a new pathology request, allowing you to change details as needed. 

As mentioned above, the exception to this is the Print Labels checkbox, which can always be changed to allow you to correct printing errors.

 

My Health Record consent opt-out

At the bottom of the pathology request window you will note the Do not send report to My Health Record checkbox.

This is included in Gentu as part of the Australian Digital Health Agency patient consent requirements.

It is the responsibility of the pathology provider/laboratory to upload patients' diagnostic results to their respective My Health Records. If the patient does not wish for their diagnostic reports to be uploaded to My Health Record, this box should be ticked to notify the laboratory that patient consent is not given.

For more information, please see this article and/or this article on the ADHA website.