Professor Georgiou commented, "The project is an exciting research collaboration centring on utilising the enormous potential of digital health to demonstrate innovative and scalable pathways to high value care." 

Abbott is a key participant in this study, providing governance oversight, funding, and medical, scientific and project management expertise.

One of the five programs in this study is titled "Establishing a sustainable Sensible Test Ordering Practice (STOP) in hospital acute care settings".

Despite the importance that diagnostic testing plays in the delivery of quality health care^3,4, there is evidence of substantial unwarranted variation in diagnostic testing, particularly in hospital EDs and ICUs^5,6. Over-testing can lead to a cascade of added investigations resulting in diagnostic errors and unnecessary burden on patients, and under-testing can result in missed diagnoses.

Previous initiatives in this area, such as the Sensible Test Ordering Practice (STOP) initiative, have been developed in Australia to address this issue. STOP involves the use of traffic light systems (green, amber or red) to restrict the range of tests that can be ordered depending on the seniority of the clinician, and while a decrease in test utilisation and significant cost savings were seen after implementation, benefits may not be sustained, mainly because the process relies on manual processes involving support from project officers.

A pilot study using an automated decision support tool in a metropolitan ED demonstrated both significant over-ordering and under-ordering of appropriate pathology test requests.

This program will further develop this automated decision support tool: the intention of the project is to incorporate standardised test request protocols into the tool, integrate it into the hospital EMR for use by ED clinicians at the time of test requesting. The goal is to achieve sustained changes in test ordering behaviour, to improve the value of care in a sustainable manner.