Confirmed Positive & Confirmed Negative
What is a confirmed positive?
In mammography, a confirmed positive means that a pathologist has examined the tissue sample from a biopsy procedure and determined that cancerous cells are present.
What is a confirmed negative?
In mammography, a confirmed negative is when a pathologist determines that a biopsy tissue sample shows no sign of cancerous cells.
Why is keeping track of all confirmed positive results important?
Keeping a record of all confirmed positive results is important because all mammography results, including confirmed positives, are used to calculate performance benchmarks accurately. One such benchmark is sensitivity, which is the percentage of studies assessed and proven positive divided by the number of confirmed positives for breast cancer.
Why is keeping track of confirmed negative results important?
It's important to record all confirmed negative results because these outcomes allow for accurate interpretation of performance benchmarks when given their yearly medical outcomes audit information.
Sources:
Saint John's Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Breast Cancer. SaintJohnsCancer. https://www.saintjohnscancer.org/breast/breast-cancer/