Inclusion of all scientifically validated elements in surgical pathology cancer reports is needed for optimal patient care.
To evaluate the frequency with which surgical pathology cancer reports contain all the scientifically validated elements required by the American College of Surgery (ACS) Commission on Cancer (CoC), the extent to which checklists are used, and the effects that the use of checklists have on the completeness of cancer reports.
Participants in the College of American Pathologists voluntary Q-Probes program reviewed 25 consecutive surgical pathology reports to include cancer reports from breast, colon, rectum, and prostate cancer specimens. For each report, the type and total number of missing required elements, deemed essential by the ACS CoC, was recorded.
A total of 2125 cancer reports were reviewed in 86 institutions; 68.8% of all surgical pathology cancer reports included all the required elements. Institutions in which checklists were routinely used reported all required elements at a higher rate than those that did not use checklists (88% versus 34%), and institutions that had a system in place to track errors also reported all required elements at a higher rate when compared to those that did not have such a system in place (88% versus 68%). The missing mandated elements, common to cancer reports of all tumor types, were extent of invasion and status of the resection margin.
This study demonstrates that about 30% of cancer reports do not have all the scientifically validated elements required by the ACS CoC. Pathology departments in which checklists are not routinely used have a substantially lower rate of reports that include all the required elements.