Freeing the data from cytology databases in order to improve the quality of cytology
Andrew A. Renshaw, George G. Birdsong · Diagnostic Cytopathology · 2018
INTRODUCTION: To review how changes in data storage and analysis can impact quality and quality assessment in cytology. METHODS: Review of the literature. RESULTS: All quality assessment is dependent on the data available for review and the methods available for evaluation. Current laboratory information systems (LISs) incorporate both a relational or hierarchical database and built in methods to analyze current quality assessment standards. In contrast, most information systems outside of medicine are separating data storage from analysis, allowing increasingly more sophisticated forms of evaluation. CONCLUSION: There is an opportunity for improvement in cytology by improving the way data can be extracted and analyzed from the cytology LIS.