Effective Communication of Pathology Results to Requesting Practitioners and Consumers

Feedback from Healthcare Professionals

Page last updated: 14 May 2013

Four GP practices and four nurses attended the focus group. Representatives from stakeholder organisations involved with QUPP including Dianella Community Health, the University of Melbourne, Diabetes Australia and the Division of General Practice were present at the workshop evening.

Both the GPs and the practice nurses gave excellent feedback. The invitees were broken into very small groups with team members (approx. 3-4 people to each) to draw out their thoughts on the prototypes and answers on the questions. Data was collected both in a written format and through verbal discussions in order to be able to explore any questions or concerns that arose in an in-depth manner.

Following the dinner focus group, the prototype (Appendix 4) was revised based on answers, comments and suggestions made at the workshop. The suggestions implemented were as follow:

  1. Under “Your Risk”, fewer pictures were included: two images for positive messages and two for negative messages.
  2. Under “what should I do next”, a new sub-heading was added: “Learning More: Make an appointment to see a Diabetes Educator: Date:……………………Time:………………, Join a support group: Phone: 1300 136 588, http://www.diabetesvic.org.au/member-area” .
  3. Under “medications”, a new image for tablets was added.
  4. Under “exercise”, a new phrase was added: “Exercise with friends”.
  5. Under “food”, the food pyramid image was replaced with a more recent food pyramid.
  6. The prototype was revised in portrait and landscape formats.
  7. The current care plan was not included as suggested because it is a two-page document and it was difficult to include it.