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Hundreds extend deadline for pathology and image uploads
New rules mean reports should be uploaded to My Health Record by default, but a long list of organisations have requested more time.
New rules came into force in July, meaning pathology and imaging reports should be shared by default.
Hundreds of health organisations have applied for an extension to allow them to comply with new automatic upload requirements for pathology and imaging reports.
According to a list circulated by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), 341 organisations have applied so far for an extension to implementing default diagnostic and imaging result uploads to My Health Record.
The changes, which came into effect on 1 July, are designed to ensure reports can be viewed immediately by patients either through my.gov.au or the 1800MEDICARE app.
The organisations on the Share by Default Extensions Register include a wide range of groups, from radiology and imaging companies to fertility clinics and local hospitals.
ADHA says the list includes organisations granted an extension or with an application being considered. It notes in some cases organisations ‘may upload some, but not all, pathology or diagnostic imaging reports, depending on the reason they have applied for an extension’.
Dr Steven Kaye, Deputy Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management, said he is surprised by the extent of the list.
‘The grand plan has been in the pipeline for a very long time now … the planning should have been underway ages ago,’ he told newsGP.
‘For hospitals, especially public hospitals, to be unable to be compliant and unable to upload and share is really not okay.’
He says he is witnessing significant variation even between different hospital departments.
‘There’s a lack of understanding of what’s trying to be achieved and a lack of respect for the patients to have access to their results in a contemporaneous timeframe,’ he said.
‘When uploading has occurred, I think there’s a great advantage to the patients for their doctors to be able to download the results and store them locally in the patient’s file.
‘The companies who are uploading are providing a far superior service to those who are not.’
The Share by Default reforms began in 2025, with the 1 July changes the latest in a series of significant shifts for patients and clinicians.
There have also been changes to the amount of time patients need to wait before viewing results on My Health Record.
In October 2025, most pathology results became visible to patients immediately on upload, with delays reduced for other results, including cytopathology, anatomical pathology and genetic tests.
Diagnostic imaging with X-ray reports of limbs also moved to immediate release in March this year.
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