Seeking new ways to improve care and outcomes for cancer patients is something that drives healthcare professionals in every area of the Rossy Cancer Network (RCN). The RCN, a collaboration of the McGill Faculty of Medicine, St. Mary’s Hospital Center (SMHC), the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) was founded in the spring of 2012 to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care to reduce the burden on patients and their families. A recent example of the network’s commitment is the introduction of synoptic reporting, a more complete and standardized way to produce pathology reports.
In the past, the common method for pathology reporting was a narrative format, in which key data about a patient would be included in sentences or paragraphs. By contrast, a synoptic report is a pathology report that includes required pathological features for any given cancer in a standard order, making it complete and uniform. In addition, the pathology data recorded in this type of report can be much more easily mined for future clinical research with the aim of improving patient care.
Reaching consensus
Dr. Indrojit Roy, Director of Pathology at SMHC, is leading the synoptic reporting initiative. He explains the move towards synoptic reporting was already taking place among pathologists at the three RCN sites. “It’s a natural evolution in the pathology community,” he says. “There is no provincial requirement but pathologists were aware of the benefits to using this state-of-the-art reporting method.” Patients are now very mobile, moving from hospital to hospital for various aspects of their care, so there is an ever-growing need to standardize reporting. With synoptic reporting, physicians can more easily zero in on the data or information they need about any patient.
The College of American Pathology (CAP) has set standards for synoptic reporting and a number of hospitals in North America have begun to use this reporting style. The pathologists within the RCN network agreed that the CAP standards are the benchmark for reporting. To initiate the process, Dr. Roy brought together a number of pathologists from within the RCN who are chiefly responsible for the four most common types of cancer, and asked them to review and approve the CAP checklist for use at all hospitals. “It was a very thorough, collaborative process,” says Dr. Roy, “and it allowed us to agree on a format that was best suited to our needs and those of our patients.”
Dr. Zu-Hua Gao, Chair of the Department of Pathology at McGill University, supports the introduction of synoptic reporting. “Timely, accurate and complete pathology reports are critical for the care of cancer patients.This is truly a positive step forward. Synoptic reporting is the recommended approach which allows for a state-of-the-art standard of care to benefit our patients.”
The RCN addressed the IT requirements for the project by working with teams at the JGH, SMHC, and MUHC to determine how best to allow the pathologists to complete the checklists and allow for a uniform presentation format. All three centres are now starting to use synoptic reporting.
Benefits now and in the future
The end goal of moving towards synoptic reporting is to produce a standardized pathology report in which all key information can be found in the same fields and sections. The benefit is that physicians can more easily access consistent, comprehensive patient information in a timely manner.
The value of synoptic reporting in the future will be seen from the research side with this easier method to mine data. In time, patients will also benefit since increased opportunities to analyze data among larger patient sample sizes will lead to better treatments and outcomes.