Patient's Information Needs and Understanding When Reading Anatomic Pathology Reports in Patient Portals

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Patient Communication
• Health Literacy

Background:

• Patient portals (PPs) increasingly provide access to health information, including anatomic pathology reports (APRs).
• Understanding APRs is crucial for patient engagement but is often hindered by complex medical terminology.
• The information needs and opinions of patients/caregivers regarding direct APR access require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand patient/caregiver information needs when accessing APRs via PPs without clinician clarification.
• To evaluate patient/caregiver opinions on accessing APRs through PPs.
• To identify challenges in patient comprehension of APRs.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory mixed-method study involving questionnaires and think-aloud protocols.
• Utilized three mock gastrointestinal specimen APRs for analysis.
• Employed thematic analysis of transcribed interviews and assessment of APR summary accuracy.

Main Results:

• Participants (n=15) exhibited significant difficulty with medical and technical terms in APRs.
• Accuracy of self-assessed understanding of terms was low (48%), declining to 38% when terms were guessed.
• Thematic analysis revealed key themes including information sources, interpretation challenges, emotional responses, and communication preferences.

Conclusions:

• Patients face substantial difficulties comprehending APRs due to complex terminology, irrespective of diagnosis.
• Direct access to APRs via PPs alone does not adequately improve patient understanding.
• Development of effective solutions is necessary to enhance patient comprehension of pathology reports.