News

Cessation of automatic copies of results

Following the release of Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora guidelines on the Transfer of Care and Results Responsibility,  Awanui Labs community laboratory will no longer routinely send copies of results to clinicians other than the primary responsible requestor unless specifically stated on the laboratory request form. “Copying test results should never be an automatic process […]

HbA1c method change

Awanui is harmonising HbA1c testing across all laboratories by transitioning from the Bio-Rad D-100 to the Roche C513 platform. Awanui Auckland has successfully used the Roche platform for several years, and this change aligns with our commitment to improving efficiency and maintaining high-quality patient care. The current HbA1c reference interval and diagnostic, monitoring and treatment […]

Changes to Bordetella pertussis testing indications

Following the pertussis epidemic announcement, we have seen a large increase in requests for pertussis PCR testing which is stretching local testing capacity. As per recently released national testing guidelines and after discussion with local Public Health, PCR testing indications in our region have changed to allow us to focus testing on priority groups. Requests […]

Patient results delivery improvement

Awanui Labs is improving the delivery of patient results directly to referrers using Medtech Evolution across New Zealand. From 30 September, referrers who are using the Medtech Evolution system, can electronically receive their patient’s test results including blood, urine, histology and cytology results in real time as they are reported by the laboratories. Awanui Labs […]

Referrer newsletter: 30 September

In this issue you will find: Read the full newsletter here.

Referrer newsletter: 23 September 2024

In this issue you will find: Read the full newsletter here.

Removing AST from liver function panels

In many New Zealand Laboratories AST is no longer part of the liver function panel. To harmonise liver function testing (LFT) across all Awanui labs, from 1 October 2024 AST will no longer form part of the standard liver function test panel. However, AST will still be able to be requested separately as either a […]

HIV screening in pregnancy

> Transition from opt-in to opt-out HIV screening in pregnancy: A paradigm shift The approach to HIV screening in pregnancy has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, shifting from an opt-in model to an opt-out model. Awanui laboratories will also be following this approach, in keeping with a recent publication from Auckland and feedback […]

Changes to Testosterone requests

In order to clarify and harmonise ordering of testosterone requests across Awanui Labs, a change to the number of testosterone request options will be effective from 17th Sept 2024. These changes will have no impact on clinical management of patients but will make testosterone ordering simpler.The current multiple different total testosterone request options will be consolidated […]

Merging of duplicate requests

Awanui Labs has recently made an operational change to how we handle duplicate test requests and what this change may mean for you. Awanui Labs experiences a high degree of multiple requests for the same patients, a significant number of these requests are from different doctors within the same clinic. Currently when the patient presents […]