Tips for making sense of a pathology report

This is part of a series from CBC's Information Morning where Halifax health-care consultant Mary Jane Hampton discusses her "health hacks" — ways to make your experience with the health-care system better.

A Nova Scotia health-care consultant says an online resource developed in Ontario could help patients in this province better understand sensitive medical information.

A group of pathologists in Ontario has launched MyPathologyReport.ca to help people navigate the often-complicated language found in pathology reports.

"It gives you very simple, easy-to-understand information that would be common in a report that you would be getting back from a pathologist," Mary Jane Hampton told CBC's Information Morning.

A pathology report is a medical document put together by the specialist who examines tissue samples after tests for cancer and other diseases. Information in the report is often communicated to patients by a family doctor or specialist, not the pathologist themselves.

Hampton said the website, which was launched two years ago, was created after consultation with a panel of patients and families.

"They found that explaining the more complicated issues with cartoons was helpful and they've actually got a pathology resident who's also a cartoonist so she's illustrating things for them," Hampton said.

Why it's never a good idea to Google

The website has a how-to guide to reading pathology reports, a dictionary for people to search specific medical terms and information about common diagnoses.

Hampton said studies show that patients forget between 40 and 80 per cent of what doctors tell them and "what's even more concerning is that studies have also concluded that of the information we do remember, only about half of it is right."

She encourages people to have friends or family members with them at doctors appointments so they can take notes or record what the doctor says.

Patients should also always ask for a copy of the pathology report, she said.

The key, said Hampton, is finding medical information that is reliable and up to date. 

"If you Google a medical term and land somewhere that isn't trustworthy, dollars to doughnuts, you will leave that website confident that you'll be dead within a year no matter what you've got," Hampton said.

She's communicated with the developers of MyPathologyReport.ca and said she "can testify to the fact that it is credible and real and a good place to go."

"It's just one of the many pieces of a toolkit that patients should be aware of if you find yourself in a position that you have a pathology report and you need to understand what it means," she said. 

READ MORE HEALTH HACKS