ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN (WLIO) - With advancements in technology, patients now have unprecedented access to their medical records. However, many still struggle to understand what their test results mean. Doctors are stepping in to bridge this gap, finding ways to make medical information clearer and more accessible to their patients.
When you undergo a medical test, hospitals are required to upload the results to your electronic medical record as soon as they are available. This means patients often see and read their results before their doctor has reviewed them.
Dr. Cathryn Lapedis, a pathologist at University of Michigan Health, explains that these reports are not typically written with patients in mind.
“We saw that in the standard reports, people really weren't able to understand basic information about their diagnosis. For example, in our standard university report, only 39% of people were able to accurately tell that the report showed cancer,” says Dr. Lapedis.
This lack of understanding can cause significant distress for patients. To address the issue, the team at Michigan Health developed patient-centered pathology reports, which present test results in plain language.
In a study comparing traditional prostate cancer reports with the patient-centered versions, over 90% of individuals who read the patient-facing reports accurately identified when the results indicated cancer.
Unfortunately, not all hospitals have implemented this feature. Dr. Lapedis emphasizes the importance of discussing test results with your doctor.
“When we go into a test or biopsy, it’s really important to talk to your doctor ahead of time—at the time of getting that test—and ask, ‘What are some words I might see in my pathology report, and how can I interpret them?’ For example, you might want to ask if you should look for terms like ‘prostatic adenocarcinoma,’ which means prostate cancer, or ‘benign prostate tissue,’ which means there’s no cancer,” she says.
Patients can also reach out to their hospital’s pathology department with additional questions if they need further clarification.
As technology continues to evolve, ensuring that patients understand their medical information is crucial to reducing anxiety and promoting better health outcomes.
