GPs who received ‘nudge letters’ from health officials cut back on frequently ordered pathology requests, according to new research on GPs who did not know they were test subjects.
The Federal Government-funded study found that GPs who received letters saying they were in the 90th percentile for ordering particular tests or test batteries reduced orders for those tests by 36% in the next six months.
The study looked at 10 common pathology batteries, all of which were some combination of iron studies, TSH, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and thyroid function.
GPs received four-page letters if they were both in the top 10% of requestors for such batteries and in the top 10% of requestors for at least two of the five individual tests in 2020/21.
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