Anatomical pathology, cytopathology and genetic tests should be excluded from a government plan to remove the seven-day delay on patients viewing results in My Health Record, medical colleges say. 

Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler called the default seven-day delay “a barrier to good clinical practice” before his department consulted on changes late last year.

The changes could involve patients accessing pathology and imaging results as soon as doctors uploaded them. 

But the RACGP and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) said the seven-day delay was important so doctors could explain results and that removing it could cause “misinformation and patient distress”.