Doctors fail to report clinically significant findings to their patients in more than 7 percent of cases, a new study has concluded. According to the study, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, use of electronic medical records tended to lower instances of failures to inform. However, practices that used a combination of electronic and paper records failed to inform patients of abnormal results more often than practices that used only paper or electronic records.

As a former office nurse, I know that the number of results received in a single day can be overwhelming. My experience has been limited to the specialist’s office and can only imagine the astronomical number of results a primary care physician might be expected to review. Our office practice was to have all results signed off by the physician. We did not call back for normal results, but always encouraged the patients to call back for results when they were to be available. Abnormal results were called to the patient along with any instructions for change in treatment plan.

As someone who teaches patient advocacy, I always tell my clients to not only follow up on their test results, but to also receive and retain a copy for their own records. By asking that they obtain a copy it is less likely to be forgotten. It might result in a few extra phone calls to the clinic to complete the retrieval and obtain any explanation or clarification, but it beats the alternative!

To read more about this study, check out the article in The New York Times.

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