A better way to request tests

(Inside Aotea, October 2011)

By Dr Karen Wood, Aotea Pathology, Chief Executive

Minister of Health Tony Ryall, Aotea Pathology staff member Yvonne Ong and
chief executive Karen Wood discuss eLab at its launch this month

Last month, Tony Ryall, the Minister of Health, spent the morning with us to launch eLab our new, online, test ordering tool.

It was a big occasion for Aotea because the tool was many months in development, and we had input from Auckland and European software specialists, doctors from the Aotea network and a dedicated inhouse project team.

I mention all these people because it was a great team effort to develop a tool that promises to be very useful for helping manage your healthcare.

eLab allows your doctor to enter your test requests directly into our system and to get information about the test requirements.

The system helps cut down on manual data entry errors. That means more peace of mind for you and us that we have the correct information from your doctor.

The system also fits in with a Government plan for patient information. By 2014 it wants all patients to have their medical information available in a standardised dataset that can be used in a range of electronic systems, where-ever you need to access it. 

That’s one of the reasons why the minister came to help us launch eLab.

It was a successful start for a software tool that will play a big part in connecting the people involved in managing your healthcare.

We are rolling out eLab to all our referring doctors over the coming months. You can find out more about the tool over the page.