HL7 Australia has drawn on a Magentus solution to publish AU eRequesting Release 1.0, the first national FHIR standard to specify a digital health service. The standard defines how clinical and diagnostic systems exchange pathology and radiology requests, replacing paper forms and phone calls with a structured, open, and trackable digital workflow available to any vendor in the market.
The publication marks the conclusion of a three-year process that began in a live clinical environment. In 2023, Magentus partnered with Sonic Healthcare to deploy Australia’s first FHIR-based diagnostic requesting solution, going live at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, the remainder of Sonic Healthcare labs, Healius, and Australian Clinical Labs. The solution has also extended into radiology through Queensland X-Ray. Approximately 90% of the final national standard reflects that original design.
“We went into this with a working system and real clinical data behind us,” said Michael Strachan, Magentus Head of Strategic Partnerships. “The fact that the standard has come back looking so much like what we built in production is a validation of that approach. But more importantly, it’s a validation of what three years of industry scrutiny, testing, and collaboration can do to make something genuinely robust. This is not a standard that was designed in isolation and handed to the market, it was shaped by real users in real settings.”
From Workflow Problem to Open Infrastructure
What distinguishes AU eRequesting from earlier Australian FHIR standards is its scope. Where previous work established foundational data models and patient record structures, this standard specifies a complete clinical workflow: how a request is structured, how it travels, how status updates return to the requesting clinician, and how patients are kept informed.
“It is about collaborative healthcare, not just connected data,” Strachan said. “The diagnostic request is one of the most common interactions in healthcare, and for too long it has run on paper, fax, and manual follow-up. This standard defines that interaction as an open, digital interface that any software vendor can implement. Quality of service and patient value will be what drives uptake and competition from here, not proprietary lock-in.”
The standard was refined through the Sparked FHIR Accelerator, a national initiative coordinated by the Australian Digital Health Agency, the Department of Health and Aged Care, CSIRO, and HL7 Australia. Magentus and Australia’s major diagnostic organisations participated across working groups, Connectathon testing events, and public consultation rounds. Dr Andy Bond, Magentus’s interoperability lead and a HL7 Australia board member, has had a key role in stress-testing the specification alongside peers from across the sector.
What Comes Next
HL7 Australia spokesperson Kate Ebrill said AU eRequesting is a significant milestone for Australian digital health. “We have published foundational standards before, but this is the first time we have specified an actual clinical service. This is a complete, end-to-end workflow that any vendor can implement today.
“This standard has been stress-tested against two years of production implementation, reviewed by major diagnostic organisations in the country, and refined through open technical scrutiny. AU eRequesting is proof that implementation-led, community-driven standards development works. That process produces something the sector will actually use, and we hope it sets the model for what comes next.”
Michael Strachan said that although getting to Release 1.0 is a meaningful achievement, it’s by no means the finish line. “Wide adoption across practices and diagnostic providers is harder work than setting the standard, and it will take sustained effort from vendors, providers, and policy setters. What we do have now is a foundation that the whole sector helped build and the whole sector has endorsed, which makes for a solid starting point.”
Magentus has committed to continued participation in the standard’s evolution as it moves through the trial-use phase and real-world implementation expands.
