Two Words in a Results Letter Tell Patients the Opposite of What You Mean

Positive and negative are clear to a radiologist and backwards to the woman reading them at her kitchen table. Here is what the research shows, and the plain words that work better in the patient summary.

Two words breast imaging results letters reach for first — positive and negative — mean the opposite to most patients of what they mean clinically. Here is what the evidence shows and what plain language looks like instead.