Introduction
The terms of the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council (NPAAC) - Requirements for information communication and reporting (Fifth Edition) (NPAAC RICR5) document obliges pathology laboratories to conform to the expectations of the standards referenced therein, which include the use of HL7 v2 messages, their structure and content, as well as the use of the RCPA SPIA-defined clinical codes, terms, units of measure and reference intervals, when applicable, for use in ordering and reporting of pathology tests in Australia.
The Australian Diagnostics and Referral Messaging - Localisation of HL7 Version 2.4 (ADRM-2021.1) Standard articulates the expectations for HL7 v2 messages used for ordering and reporting pathology in Australia. The NPAAC RICR5 document explicitly requires that the HL7 v2 messages used in Australia conform to the expectations of the ADRM 2021.1
As part of development work on the RCPA Standardisation of Pathology Informatics in Australia (RCPA SPIA), the Pathology Informatics Pilot Project (PI Pilot) developed the collection of Terminology Reference Sets which define the SNOMED Codes, LOINC Codes, RCPA Preferred Terms and other attributed of the orderable tests which are expected to be used for identifying ordered tests and tests for which results are provided in Australia.
The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Standardised Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA), Guidelines, v4.0, articulate RCPA's expectations with respect to ordering and reporting pathology in Australia. The NPAAC RICR5 document explicitly requires that the HL7 v2 messages used in Australia use terms, codes, units of measure and reference intervals, when applicable, defined in the RCPA SPIA Terminology Reference Sets.
The terminology sets data is available from the National Clinical Terminology Service (NCTS), see references below.
These resources have been used to develop this application with the explicit intention to support the pathology industry in Australia in the effort to standardise the use of clinical terms in pathology ordering and reporting.
RCPA References
- Pathology Terminology and Information Standardisation Projects - In 2011,The National Pathology Terminology and Information Standardisation Plan was developed to standardise pathology terminology leading to limited terminology reference sets with guidelines for their use and a standard for units of measure to minimise the risks from variation in practice. Standardised pathology information structures and terminologies allow for improvement in the recording, decision support, communication and analysis of pathology data to enhance overall healthcare for the individual, the population, and the healthcare system for its practitioners and payers. The ability to provide semantic interoperability between computers enables assurance of fidelity of communication while reducing the risks associated with laboratory variation, transcription errors and misinterpretation of data due to ambiguity of terminology.
- RCPA PITS FAQs
- SPIA Compliance Checklists - The SPIA Compliance Checklists are a summary of the relevant SPIA Guidelines, NPAAC and NATA design elements which, when followed, will ensure the development of RCPA SPIA compliant pathology reports.
- RCPA SPIA Report Rendering Design Checklist - Comprehensive
- SPIA Exemplar Reports - The SPIA Exemplar Reports have been designed to provide laboratory staff and software vendors with visual representations of SPIA compliant reports for a range of disciplines with respect to report formatting. The inclusion or exclusion of tests, Preferred terms, Reference Intervals, and the order in which the tests appear on each report are not necessarily meant to be indicative of true report content, merely to demonstrate SPIA-compliant formatting. Click here to access the Pilot Exemplar Reports.
- Top 50 Priority Tests/Panels for SPIA adoption - The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) has been contracted by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) to collate pathology requesting data from a range of sources with the intent to develop a Priority Tests/panels for Standardised Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA) adoption which any laboratory can utilise as a starting point to begin the SPIA Implementation process.
- RCPA PITUS (Pathology Information Terminology and Units Standardisation) Newsletters - Project Newsletter - Issue 21, December 2024 - Sections on PI Pilot and Top 50 Priority Tests/Panels for SPIA adoption
- References to PI Pilot-related material at RCPA Site
RCPA SPIA Resources
As at 14th of May 2025 the RCPA SPIA Reference Sets used by the backend service which this application uses are these derived from the following resources:
- Orders and Results (ORM^O01, ORU^R01)
- The National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council (NPAAC) - Requirements for information communication and reporting (Fifth Edition) (NPAAC RICR5) Standard
- The Australian Diagnostics and Referral Messaging - Localisation of HL7 Version 2.4 (ADRM-2021.1) Standard
- SPIA Terminology Reference Sets and Information Models
- The RCPA resources available from NCTS include the release notes, terminology reference sets and information models.
- Orders Only (ORM^O01)
- Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Standardised Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA), Guidelines v4.0, e-Requesting, Section 2.
- Results Only (ORU^R01)
- Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Standardised Pathology Informatics in Australia (SPIA), Guidelines v4.0, Reporting, Sections 3, 6 and 8
- The RCPA SPIA Requesting data set in which the data used by the validation service originates:
- The RCPA SPIA Reporting data sets in which the data used by the validation service to verify LOINC Codes, RCPA Preferred Terms, RCPA Synonyms, RCPA Preferred Units of Measure associated with theLOINC Code and UCUM Units of Measure associated with the LOINC Code, provided in fields and components of OBX.3 Observation Identifier, OBX.6 Units of HL7 v2 Results messages originates:
| Processed Date | Source | Sheet |
|---|---|---|
| 20/05/2025 08:36:57 | RCPA SPIA Requesting Pathology RS_May 2025.xlsx | RCPA SPIA Requesting_May 2025 |
| Processed Date | Source | Sheet | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20/05/2025 09:05:51 | RCPA SPIA Chemical Pathology RS_Feb 2025.xlsx | Chem Path Reporting_Feb 2025 | Chemical Pathology |
| 20/05/2025 09:05:51 | RCPA SPIA Haematology Transfusion RS_Apr 2025.xlsx | Haem TM Reporting_Apr 2025 | Haematology |
| 20/05/2025 09:05:51 | RCPA SPIA Immunopathology Terminology RS_Apr 2025.xlsx | Immuno Reporting_Apr 2025 | Immunopathology |
| 20/05/2025 09:05:52 | RCPA SPIA Microbiology Serology Molecular RS_Apr 2025.xlsx | Micro Sero Molecular Ap 2025 | Microbiology |
| 20/05/2025 09:08:44 | spia_refints_data_20241107.tsv | ||
| 20/05/2025 09:06:43 | RCPA SPIA Preferred Units Table December 2024.xlsx | Preferred Units Aug 2022 | |
| 20/05/2025 08:36:57 | RCPA SPIA Requesting Pathology RS_May 2025.xlsx | RCPA SPIA Requesting_May 2025 |