ATMS Sponsor Q&A

Through my role at NutriPATH as its Laboratory Director, we have been able to provide Integrative/Functional Medicine practitioners

1. a comprehensive functional pathology testing range through our locally based diagnostic testing service, limiting the need to source expensive overseas lab tests
2. extensive collections/logistics coverage throughout Australia/New Zealand for practitioner and patient ease/convenience.
3. A readily accessible practitioner clinical consultancy service for reports interpretations and test selection options for patients.

For many years (1995 – 2010) I operated a traditional (Medicare) pathology laboratory, and in the early 2000’s introduced a range of specialised tests for practitioners in the area of Integrative/Functional Medicine, as this was identified as a growth area in Medicine.

The concept of looking “upstream” as to the causes of current patient symptomatologies and following through with natural/nutritional remedies as opposed to the use of prescriptive medications, to provide patient health improvements appealed to me.

The overall positive feedback we receive on improvements in patient health confirms to us that the service we provide is benefiting the community who are accessing it.

Over the last 12 months we have successfully focussed on

1. further developing our state of the art Gut Microbiome testing range into a more comprehensive product
2. consolidating our testing range towards in-house testing as opposed to referring samples to overseas laboratories, thus allowing for financial benefits/affordabilities to the practitioner/patient base.
3. Having our laboratory achieve NATA/RCPA accreditation to reinforce the validity/quality of our testing services. This directly adds credibility to our referring healthcare practitioners, who are then seen to be using reputable diagnostic services recognised by the traditional medical community.

Regretably, the pandemic put a pause to many things whilst we focussed on getting through this difficult period.

Clearly the rise to prominence of the Gut Microbiome has taken centre stage over the last few years. Through a raised media profile of this area of health, learned/upskilled practitioners are searching for more detailed analyses that can convey the types of results identified by the published research. In this respect, NutriPATH is ideally positioned to offer practitioners the most comprehensive and state of the art range of gut health assessments.

As more and more research gets published and comes to prominence over this time, more diagnostic tests that we currently provide will become more accepted by the overall medical/healthcare community, reinforcing the validity of the range of tests we currently provide.

I am of the view that through thorough workup of their patients they will make positive improvements in patients’ health. Judicious choice of diagnostic testing to validate/support the need for nutritional support would definitely enhance their professionalism in the eyes of their client base.