Does your Oncology program struggle with not having access to current data? Do you find it hard to make both clinical and financial decisions? The struggle is real! However things have drastically improved in this area in the last several years. Concurrent cancer registry data collection is becoming the norm and oncology programs nationwide are recognizing the benefits and value of having this data in real-time.

Does your Oncology program struggle with not having access to current data? Do you find it hard to make both clinical and financial decisions? The struggle is real! However things have drastically improved in this area in the last several years. Concurrent cancer registry data collection is becoming the norm and oncology programs nationwide are recognizing the benefits and value of having this data in real-time.

Concurrent abstracting is the process of completing the patient abstract in stages. This occurs generally after each treatment modality is administered instead of all at once, four to six months after diagnosis. The Rapid Quality Reporting System (RQRS) by the Commission on Cancer (COC) is a tool first introduced in 2012 that provides real-time assessment of clinical data. In January of 2017, RQRS became mandatory for all COC accredited facilities.

While there have been many challenges and concerns for cancer registries in implementing concurrent abstracting, the benefits and value of real-time data analysis and decision making is immense. Concurrent reporting benefits can be felt throughout the entire oncology program from research initiatives, clinical and treatment decisions to administrative and financial business decisions.

Historically, clinicians and oncology program leaders have felt the latency in the collection of cancer registry data was not of value and did not meet their needs in providing high quality cancer care and treatment. Concurrent abstracting and reporting are helping to address these needs.

In addition to the concurrent abstraction of cases by the cancer registry staff, many facilities are also utilizing imports from many sources to automate these time consuming processes. Some of the sources being used to import data into the cancer registry database come from the Electronic Medical Record, Pathology software, Medical and Radiation Oncology Software, Tumor Board, Patient Navigation and Survivorship programs. These imports can be automated and even performed in real-time, importing data into the cancer registry database in minutes.

The entire oncology program will see tremendous benefits of concurrent registry data. The administrative and financial departments can utilize the data to examine and expand current programs and services offered. Migration and referral patterns can guide decisions for staffing, capital equipment needs, marketing initiaves, and community outreach projects and identify the need for the expansion of satellite offices and outpatient treatment and diagnostic centers.

Real-time data can assist physicians in making the best treatment decisions by analyzing concurrent staging information including biomarkers and prognostic factors. Having access to registry data without delay allows researchers to better leverage the data. Demographic, diagnostic and staging data can help identify patients earlier for clinical trials, resulting in an increase in eligibility, enabling centers to offer the most progressive treatment for patients. The ability to analyze diagnostic, staging and treatment data in real-time can help oncology programs measure their quality metrics. Armed with this data, both clinicians and administrators can examine these metrics and key performance indicators to manage and create strategies for the organization.

ERS would love to engage with your oncology leaders and cancer registrars to help define your objectives and see how we can strategize together to help your program leverage our services to help meet these objectives.