Building HSV’s understanding of health service pathology

Members of HealthShare Victoria’s Procurement team recently visited Austin Health’s Heidelberg campus to learn about the end-to-end pathology process, following the journey from patient collection to analysis and clinical assessment.

The visit involved a tour of Austin Health’s molecular diagnostics, microbiology, haematology, immunology, biochemistry and anatomical pathology departments, allowing the HSV team to see for themselves the scientific rigour and skill applied throughout each process.

Austin Health’s General Manager Operations Donna McNally led the Pathology department tour, which was supported by Deputy Director Procurement and Supply Nick Rowan.

The group also visited the Transfusion department and learnt how Lifeblood donor products are used at the hospital.

A highlight was the new, fully automated blood testing equipment that undertakes a significant portion of routine testing, enabling Pathology teams to focus on pathology analysis. 

Austin Pathology processes over 1,000 patient requests every day, with some results available in less than an hour and others taking a few days to resolve while cultures are grown and analysed.

The department is expanding its operations to deliver and support pathology services across more regional and rural hospitals in northern Victoria to create one of 3 statewide networks, improving access and testing turnaround times for patients in those communities. 

“Pathology really is the engine room of the hospital and the wider group of health services we support,” says GM Operations Donna McNally.

“The testing we undertake provides vital data that helps our clinicians to determine the most appropriate patient treatment.”

The emergence of new digital tools is helping Austin Health share blood and tissue sample results in a matter of minutes rather than hours after being on the road, saving precious time in getting information to where it is needed most.

This new technology enables pathologists at regional hospitals serviced by Austin Health Pathology to review and interpret patient data to prepare clinical reports locally on site.

For HSV, insights on the volumes, complexity and expertise of each aspect of Austin Health’s pathology operations help build understanding of the specific procurement and supply chain requirements of our health service customers.

Hospital site visits continue to be a vital part of HSV’s commitment to building trusted business partnerships and enable planning and activities that better meet individual customer needs.

The opportunity to learn about new, networked systems of product and service delivery also provides lessons for HSV’s evolving procurement operations. 

“Seeing such a diverse range of capabilities working behind the scenes delivering a shared services model was impressive – especially as we work across Victoria’s emerging LHSNs (local health service networks),” says HSV Chief Procurement Officer Sarah Bryant.

“HSV is working closely with the LHSNs and finding ways in which we can support their operations in a more streamlined fashion is going to be hugely helpful to us.

“Donna’s team of subject matter experts also showcased how pathology has and is continuing to evolve at pace through science and technology, while also embedding more efficient ways to deliver these essential patient services,” Sarah says.

Top image: The HSV group with Austin Health General Manager Operations Donna McNally (third from right), Deputy Director Procurement and Supply Nick Rowan (far left) and Scientist Anusha Chacko (second from left).