Sep 15, 2026 · 53 min · 11 segments
Today we have part 2 of our report writing pearls of wisdom episode. Part 1 was released a couple months ago (episode #195). Other episodes in this *clinical insights* series include #175 on the…
[on-hold music] All right, John, how do you suggest we best summarize our test results section?
So to start, I feel strongly that a test data summary sheet should be included in our reports.
I don't think that matters as much, but in terms of including it in the report at all, there are some passionate views on both sides.
Some say that patients and providers could misinterpret the data, which is true.
However, I think the pros of including it outweigh the potential cons, and I include a note that the data should not be interpreted by anyone who is not a neuropsychologist.
The main rationale for including it, in my opinion, is to facilitate retesting in the future, either by you or by another neuropsychologist.
You know, some people say that you can just request the data for the prior evaluation if you need it, but frankly, good luck with that.
[chuckles] You know, in my experience, it is almost always a major lengthy hassle, and often I nen-never end up getting it.
There have been so many times when a patient has had prior testing, and it would be great to know what their baseline was.
You know, th-this seventy-year-old who is concerned about cognitive decline had an evaluation five years ago.
That's such useful data to have, but the other neuropsychologist only included a summary of the results without the data, so I can't directly compare to my data.
when raw data is not included and when the normative source and the adjustments are not specified.
So if you just write that the patient's memory was, quote-unquote, borderline, I have little idea what that means.
You know, is that the third percentile, or is it the sixteenth percentile or something else? And did you adjust for education in that percentile? I don't know.
So I feel strongly that we should have an easily readable summary sheet that includes both raw data and the standard scores with the normative source and adjustments that were used.
[on-hold music] All right, John, how do you suggest we best summarize our test results section?
So to start, I feel strongly that a test data summary sheet should be included in our reports.
I don't think that matters as much, but in terms of including it in the report at all, there are some passionate views on both sides.
Some say that patients and providers could misinterpret the data, which is true.
However, I think the pros of including it outweigh the potential cons, and I include a note that the data should not be interpreted by anyone who is not a neuropsychologist.
The main rationale for including it, in my opinion, is to facilitate retesting in the future, either by you or by another neuropsychologist.
You know, some people say that you can just request the data for the prior evaluation if you need it, but frankly, good luck with that.
[chuckles] You know, in my experience, it is almost always a major lengthy hassle, and often I nen-never end up getting it.
There have been so many times when a patient has had prior testing, and it would be great to know what their baseline was.
You know, th-this seventy-year-old who is concerned about cognitive decline had an evaluation five years ago.
That's such useful data to have, but the other neuropsychologist only included a summary of the results without the data, so I can't directly compare to my data.
when raw data is not included and when the normative source and the adjustments are not specified.
So if you just write that the patient's memory was, quote-unquote, borderline, I have little idea what that means.
You know, is that the third percentile, or is it the sixteenth percentile or something else? And did you adjust for education in that percentile? I don't know.
So I feel strongly that we should have an easily readable summary sheet that includes both raw data and the standard scores with the normative source and adjustments that were used.
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