Precision and Perspective in Paediatric Pathology

So d- different analyzers, the number can mean something different.

And I know, Andrea, you've had the experience where, uh, it's in even if the analyzer, uh, perhaps would be fine, it's the reference range that's the issue, and that that leads to a lot of anxiety and over-testing.

Uh-

Yeah

... take us through that.

So look, a really common scenario we have is a patient being referred to clinic who's had bloods via their GP, and they've had a range of things.

Often one of the most common ones, in fact, is things like coagulation studies.

And what we find is, uh, the adult or the, the larger pathology, some of whom have not taken time to really establish a ref- age-related reference ranges, which we know is really critical for our patients.

So that pa- family are referred, they've had a conversation with the GP, they're spending those couple of, you know, those weeks really waiting for clinic to think about what this might mean for their child.

I think we've gotta really think about what impact that has on the child and the family.

It's also taking up spots in clinic where we really need to be seeing, you know, uh, the children who sort of need to be coming to that clinic.

And what it means often, we have a couple of scenarios.

Sometimes we have a scenario where someone's then gone on and done a whole lot of reflex testing, again using adult reference ranges.

And we can often think about whether that's costing the sort of, you know, it's costing Medicare and our society hundreds of dollars to do a whole lot of tests that really don't need to happen.

As you can imagine, that family, when they come to clinic, need a lot of reassurance, but then often need to have all the tests repeated again with a pediatric reference range.

And so then unpacking that, sending them away, often fairly happy that they don't have a diagnosis.

But all that sort of anxiety and waste and sort of, uh, you know, has a significant impact.

So it's, that's a really classic scenario.

We would see that very frequently.

Yeah.

I didn't realize that kids have a normally longer aPTT.

Mm.

Correct.

Correct.

Yep.

So d- different analyzers, the number can mean something different.

And I know, Andrea, you've had the experience where, uh, it's in even if the analyzer, uh, perhaps would be fine, it's the reference range that's the issue, and that that leads to a lot of anxiety and over-testing.

Uh-

Yeah

... take us through that.

So look, a really common scenario we have is a patient being referred to clinic who's had bloods via their GP, and they've had a range of things.

Often one of the most common ones, in fact, is things like coagulation studies.

And what we find is, uh, the adult or the, the larger pathology, some of whom have not taken time to really establish a ref- age-related reference ranges, which we know is really critical for our patients.

So that pa- family are referred, they've had a conversation with the GP, they're spending those couple of, you know, those weeks really waiting for clinic to think about what this might mean for their child.

I think we've gotta really think about what impact that has on the child and the family.

It's also taking up spots in clinic where we really need to be seeing, you know, uh, the children who sort of need to be coming to that clinic.

And what it means often, we have a couple of scenarios.

Sometimes we have a scenario where someone's then gone on and done a whole lot of reflex testing, again using adult reference ranges.

And we can often think about whether that's costing the sort of, you know, it's costing Medicare and our society hundreds of dollars to do a whole lot of tests that really don't need to happen.

As you can imagine, that family, when they come to clinic, need a lot of reassurance, but then often need to have all the tests repeated again with a pediatric reference range.

And so then unpacking that, sending them away, often fairly happy that they don't have a diagnosis.

But all that sort of anxiety and waste and sort of, uh, you know, has a significant impact.

So it's, that's a really classic scenario.

We would see that very frequently.

Yeah.

I didn't realize that kids have a normally longer aPTT.

Mm.

Correct.

Correct.

Yep.