Trying to decipher medical test results and lab reports through online portals can be confusing – and sometimes worrisome — to patients.
That is why it's important for people to ask health care providers a lot of questions while they are still in the office, said Dr. Claiborne Childs, vice president of medical affairs at Riddle Hospital in Middletown Township, Delaware County.
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"After the doctor says, 'We're going to run some tests,' I think that's a good point to say, 'Hey, Doc, when I get the results back on the portal, how should I communicate with you?'" Claiborne said.
The 21st Century Cares Act, which took effect in 2021, requires health systems to make labs, test results and other medical reports available electronically as soon as they are finalized. But "a standard pathology report is written by a pathologist for a clinical specialist like a surgeon or a cancer doctor or for other pathologists to read," Dr. Cathryn Lapedis, of the Department of Pathology at University of Michigan Health, said in a statement.
Lapedis and her colleagues conducted a recent study that put 2,238 people, ages 55 to 88, through hypothetical scenarios in which they received biopsies as a result of experiencing urinary problems. The patients used online portals to access their results, which were posted in varying formats. Some mimicked standard reports used by the University of Michigan or the Veterans Administration in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Others reports were written in patient-friendly language. The study participants had to identify their diagnoses, risk levels and worry levels.
"We found that most people cannot get basic information — like whether or not they have prostate cancer from standard pathology reports," Lapedis said.
Only 39% of people viewing the university reports could accurately identify that they had cancer. But 93% of people in the group who had reports with patient-centered language accurately identified that the reports showed cancer.
"For example, a standard pathology report will include a term like prostatic adenocarcinoma, but the patient-centered report will simply call it prostate cancer," Lapedis said.
Also, people who couldn't understand the standard reports had higher levels of unnecessary worry than people reading the patient-centered reports, whose worry levels aligned with their diagnoses, the study found.
The researchers recommended hospital systems include patient-centered reports along with the standard reports.
If patients are confused by what they are seeing in their portals, they should call their providers or message them electronically. Ultimately, though, having early access to these records is important, Claiborne said.
"The better that patients understand their medical history and understand the results that they are seeing, the better they can be stewards of their own health," he said.