Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title The rise in self-testing and the role of GPs Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet NewsGP Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 21/04/25 Description The market for accessible home tests ranging from vitamin deficiency to STIs is booming. How far is this shifting the role of general practice?
...For Professor Mark Morgan, Chair of RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care, the changes are a mixed blessing for GPs.
‘On the positive side, the more people who are engaged with their health, the more opportunities arise for lifestyle and pharmaceutical interventions,’ he told newsGP.
‘On the negative side, information for its own sake without context is often low value. There can be lots of anxiety provoked by out-of-range tests.
‘There can be delayed diagnosis or false reassurance from tests that are low quality. Some of the testing is medically unnecessary but commercial interests will drive testing anyway.
‘We are seeing this with the plethora of online and drop-in blood testing available privately.’
With the use of health devices including smart watches and smartphone apps also growing exponentially, Professor Morgan recognises the phenomenon of personalised testing and monitoring is not going away.
Like many, he believes the market is likely to expand much further as health-conscious individuals seek more data and instantaneous feedback. He also sees health demographics playing a part.
‘The increasing proportion of us with chronic conditions that need to be monitored will also drive development and sales,’ he said.
A changing role for GPs?
For Professor Morgan, the changes are already causing a shift in traditional healthcare practice.
‘We teach medical students to only do a test where the result will change management,’ he said.
‘Self-testing moves the dynamic towards managing the fall-out from a lot of self-directed testing.
‘The GP role will increasingly be that of health coach and interpreter of results, answering questions like “what does this result mean for me?”’
Professor Morgan notes that evidence and clinical guidelines have been carefully synthesised in the RACGP Red Book to pinpoint screening with more benefits than harms.
‘Widespread home testing becomes a de facto screening program with all the potential harms of over-diagnosis and over-treatment,’ he said.
Alongside commercial entities, governments too have taken advantage of changing technology and attitudes to introduce accessible screening at home...
Producer/Author Jolyon Attwooll URL https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/the-rise-in-self-testing-and-the-role-of-gps?utm_source=racgpnewsgpnewsletter&utm_campaign=newsgpedm&utm_medium=email Persons Mark Morgan