When patients receive their pathology reports, they often face dense medical language, unfamiliar terminology, and life-altering information. Understanding these reports unaided can be overwhelming.
To help bridge this gap, pathologist Jason Wasserman – head of Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology at the Ottawa Hospital –co-founded MyPathologyReport.com, an independent, not-for-profit resource that explains pathology results in clear, accurate language. Since launching in 2017, the site has grown into a widely used global tool, supported by collaborations with organizations such as the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), whose Patient Champions program has advocated for patient access and engagement and helped extend the site’s reach to a broader audience, and recently partnered with Scanslated to bring patient-friendly explanations directly into hospital portals.
We spoke with Wasserman to discuss how MyPathologyReport began, the principles behind simplifying complex material, and why the future of patient communication may depend on large language models.
What inspired you to develop MyPathologyReport?
We started the site in 2017 as hospitals in North America were preparing to give patients direct, immediate access to their pathology reports. Many pathologists worried about how patients would understand this information – especially since even clinicians sometimes struggle with complex reports, such as lymphoma diagnoses. We felt that if anyone was going to create an accurate resource, it had to be pathologists.
How has its scope evolved?
The initial goal was simple: put the most common pathology terms online in patient-friendly language. Early feedback from patients and advocates encouraged us to expand. We grew beyond a dictionary into a resource that helps patients break down their full report, find their diagnosis, and understand each component well enough to have an informed conversation with their doctor.
What misunderstandings or pain points shaped your content choices?
Our biggest challenge was defining terms – like dysplasia, atypia, or reactive changes – that pathologists themselves sometimes use differently. With a global audience, we needed definitions that applied broadly across institutions. Input from pathologists elsewhere, and from patients who emailed suggestions, helped us refine our approach and make our content widely applicable.
How do you simplify dense pathology language without losing accuracy?
Our priorities are accuracy and safety. We focus on the most common terms, tests, and diagnoses rather than trying to cover everything, since rare entities vary across institutions and risk misleading patients. Every article is reviewed by subject-matter experts to ensure it is correct, consistent, and patient-friendly.
How do you measure whether the site is making a difference?
We track site traffic – now several hundred thousand monthly visitors, mostly on weekdays when patients read their reports. We also look at time spent on articles, the volume and quality of patient questions, and ongoing feedback from patient advocates. New surveys are being added, and our new chatbot will help us understand what patients are learning and what they still need.
How does the partnership with Scanslated work?
Scanslated integrates patient-friendly radiology explanations into the Epic patient portal and wanted to do the same for pathology. They approached us to use our content. We worked with them to condense articles into short, digestible pieces that appear directly within a patient’s pathology report, along with our images if available. Our goal is simple: patient education – wherever it happens.
What were the challenges in adapting your content for Scanslated?
Radiology reports are complex, but pathology contains an even broader range of terms and diagnoses, and many reports are descriptive rather than definitive. Covering this variation is ongoing work. We’ve defined several thousand terms so far, but there is still a long way to go.
Do you think patient-friendly pathology reports will become standard?
I do. The technology now exists to make this widely available. If someday patients no longer need to visit our site because the information is built directly into their portal, that’s success – easier access for everyone.
What does it mean when a patient says they finally understood their diagnosis because of your site?
It’s incredibly validating. Those messages motivate us to write more. Everyone working on the site is a volunteer; I’ve spent thousands of hours on it because I want patients to understand my reports. A pathology report shouldn’t confuse people. Patients should be able to read it, use a reliable resource, and move confidently to the next stage of care.
Where is the biggest unmet need in pathology communication today?
Biomarkers. Patients need help understanding why biomarker tests are performed, how results are reported, and what the results mean. These are essential for personalized medicine but also the most difficult part of the report to explain. Expanding our biomarker library is a major focus.
What emerging trend excites you most?
Integrating large language models. Our resources are static, but the chatbot can take any patient question – phrased however the report presents it – and guide them to the right explanation. AI helps personalize expert-curated content and will dramatically expand our reach over the next few years.
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