New Partnership Translates Pathology Reports into Patient-Friendly Language

Pathology reports can be difficult for a layperson to understand, since they’re written specifically for clinical audiences. And because patients can now view those reports in online portals days or even weeks before their appointments, that technical language can cause a lot of confusion, worry, and endless online searches for answers. 

A new partnership between MyPathologyReport.com and Scanslated aims to change that. 

Together, they’ve developed a tool that works with existing pathology reports to automatically generate patient-friendly versions and help bridge the communication gap between patients and doctors.

A quest for simplicity sparks innovation 

Scanslated, a physician-led healthcare technology company, has developed software that creates interactive plain language reports targeted at a patient audience. Scanslated’s software was initially designed to make radiology reports easier to understand.  

“We realized the reports we were writing for other doctors were now reaching a patient audience, with the potential for causing a lot of confusion and anxiety,” says Nicholas T. Befera, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of Scanslated Inc. and Assistant Professor of Radiology, Duke University Health System. “This was eye opening at the time, and we saw an opportunity to improve the patient experience by making our reports more patient-friendly.”

After seeing how this approach benefited patients in radiology, Dr. Befera and his team began working to expand into pathology, where patients were facing similar challenges.

“Pathology reports often generate anxiety and confusion, as they can be even more medically complex than imaging results,” Dr. Befera says. 

For Jason Wasserman, MD, PhD, FRCPC, pathologist and Division Head for Diagnostic and Molecular Pathology at the Ottawa Hospital and founder of MyPathologyReport, partnering with Scanslated made perfect sense. 

“We share the same goal of helping patients read and understand their pathology reports,” he says. 

While building Scanslated’s new patient-friendly pathology library, Dr. Befera and his team learned about MyPathologyReport.com, a patient education site launched in 2018 by Dr. Wasserman. In February 2025, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) announced a new partnership with MyPathologyReport. The site features hundreds of plain language articles and illustrations explaining diagnostic terms, along with an “Ask a Pathologist” feature where patients can submit questions directly.  

“We shared a mission and a passion for patient-centered care,” Dr. Befera says. “After some discussion we realized that the expert patient-friendly content he had created was perfectly aligned with what we were building at Scanslated, and that the Scanslated format could be a great way to make MyPathologyReport material available to more patients.” 

Integrating MyPathologyReport’s content into Scanslated’s software was a natural fit. Importantly, Scanslated doesn’t replace pathology and radiology reports. Rather, it adds additional, interactive context to help patients decipher what would otherwise be confusing terminology.

“We have adapted the website’s content to build a comprehensive pathology library suitable for Scanslated,” Dr. Wasserman says. “As a result, our patient friendly articles and illustrations are now available to patients there.” 

Scanslated’s pathology content includes MyPathologyReport’s articles and explanations, along with expert definitions written by Duke University pathologists. 

“Many of our embedded explanations contain links to relevant articles on MyPathologyReport for patients who wish to dive deeper on a topic,” Dr. Befera says. 

“We display the entire report text, but with interactive embedded explanations written by a human expert specifically for a patient audience,” Dr. Befera says. “Patients simply click or tap on words to see context-specific explanations as they read, as if an expert were sitting down next to them and walking them through the results.” 

The response from patients has been overwhelmingly positive, Dr. Befera says, and this approach has worked exceptionally well.

Safer and smarter than public LLMs

Today, many patients feed their radiology and pathology reports into public-facing LLMs like ChatGPT for instant explanations. But this often leads to misinformation and misinterpretation.

Using software that is grounded in human expertise and clinical accuracy offers a very different approach.

“AI summaries created by ChatGPT and other LLMs are replacing the actual report with something that may be inaccurate, contain hallucinations, or give inappropriate recommendations,” Dr. Befera says. “Our software enhances the original report, rather than replacing it.” 

This means the integrity of what the pathologist or radiologist dictated remains intact. 

All of the patient-friendly content is created by board certified pathologists and radiologists specifically for a patient audience, Dr. Befera explains. 

“We leverage deep learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in the background to apply that expert content in an intelligent and context-specific way,” he says. “We’re applying human intelligence, with AI in the background to create a unique and reliable experience for the patient.” 

The process eliminates one of AI’s biggest pitfalls: hallucinations.

“Unlike generic AI-generated content, the pathology resources in Scanslated have been reviewed by pathologists to ensure that the content is accurate, relevant, and patient friendly,” Dr. Wasserman says. 

Bridging the patient-doctor communication gap

The platform is already active in many major U.S. health systems, and its reach continues to grow.

“Reports are generated automatically with zero impact on physician workflow,” Dr. Befera says. All patients at Duke Health have access to Scanslated for pathology results, he adds, and can generate a report on demand by clicking a link in their patient portal. 

By translating complex medical language into clear explanations, patients can feel more informed, confident, and ready to more actively engage in their care.

“Improving the digital patient experience helps patients feel more prepared to have meaningful conversations with their providers,” Dr. Befera says. “Patients are better informed, more prepared for follow-up visits, and less anxious. This translates to more efficient patient-provider interactions at follow-up.” 

The tool creates a common ground between patients and their doctors that helps bridge their common communication gap. 

“It’s a quick win for patient engagement and an easy way to drive satisfaction and loyalty without changing provider workflow,” Dr. Befera says. 

Looking ahead at what’s next

The company’s long-term goal is to expand their network into more fields, making patient-centered reports the standard across every diagnostic specialty. The team is already developing patient-friendly formats for laboratory reports as well, according to Dr. Befera.

Meanwhile, MyPathologyReport continues to expand its educational library for Scanslated users. 

“This is just the beginning of our journey together,” Dr. Wasserman says. “We’re continuously adding new terms and illustrations to the library, and the information provided will develop as guidelines change, new tests are introduced, and the practice of pathology continues to evolve.”