title: Impact of a reporting template on thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology reporting and cytohistologic concordance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reporting templates are increasingly common in all fields of pathology. In this paper, we present an assessment of the impact of a thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) template on diagnostic classification and cytohistologic concordance.
  
  
  METHODS
  A thyroid FNAC reporting template was developed and introduced at a university teaching hospital. We examined FNAC reports for a five-month period before introduction of the template and compared these to the five month period after the template introduction. We recorded diagnostic categorization as well as cytohistologic correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 168 cases were identified in the five month period prior to the introduction of the reporting template and 172 cases in the five month period after the introduction of the reporting template. The template appeared to improve the diagnostic precision of benign conditions without altering the proportion of cases classified as unsatisfactory, benign or abnormal. There was no significant difference in the rate of cytohistologic concordance before and after the template introduction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The introduction of a reporting template for thyroid FNAC improved diagnostic precision of benign conditions and did not alter the general diagnostic classification or cytohistologic concordance.
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, 5788 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 1V8, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurette
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Geldenhuys
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Naugler