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Modeling Electronic Reporting Project (NPCR–MERP)

What’s New?
  • CyberView, a Web-based presentation tool that provides a refined view of cancer registry processes to help the day-to-day efficiency of operations
  • Workgroup timelines for developing hospital and central cancer registry models
  • ePath Pilot Project Workgroup's Phase 1 Final Report: Results for transmitting pathology laboratory data to central cancer registries electronically using Health Level 7 (HL7) standard message format
  • Glossary: Terms and references used in the project
  • Methods and Approach
  • Workgroups
  • Glossary
  • The National Program of Cancer Registries–Modeling Electronic Reporting Project (NPCR–MERP) is a collaborative effort to develop a model for sending data from clinical electronic health records (EHR) to hospital and state cancer registries.

    The NPCR–MERP models will help cancer registration experts develop a plan to enable cancer registries to obtain most cancer data electronically, producing more complete, timely, and accurate cancer surveillance data. A plan will help organize the limited resources available to cancer registries around a consensus set of national priorities.

    The latest version of the models, UML diagrams, and use case documents is available in CyberView, a Web-based presentation tool that opens in a new browser window. CyberView provides a refined view of cancer registry processes to help the day-to-day efficiency of operations.

    Purpose

    The purpose of the project is to develop a model—including guidelines, recommendations, and diagrams—that NPCR can use to demonstrate the potential of electronic cancer registry reporting by

    • Identifying new capabilities offered by electronic capture of patient information, such as Electronic Medical Record, Consolidated Patient Record, and Electronic Health Record.
    • Incorporating national standards.
    • Improving completeness, timeliness, and quality of data.
    • Automating manual processes for data capture.
    • Presenting models in several levels of specificity.
    • Reflecting current industry best practices.

    The objective of the project is to develop a blueprint for electronic reporting that will allow cancer registries to receive most data electronically.

    Scope

    The NPCR–MERP will focus on all current and potential data sources for the hospital and central cancer registry levels. NPCR–MERP focused on hospitals as a first priority because the majority of cancer data are received from this source. We thought electronic reporting of hospital data would improve the timeliness, completeness, and quality of cancer surveillance data reported at the state and national levels. Other sources, such as pathology and physicians' offices, will be addressed as well.

    The NPCR–MERP scope diagram is a simple flow diagram that identifies the multiple data sources in a ranked order, based on the quantity of useful data that are available and reported to the central cancer registry. This diagram provides a simplified high-level view of the project scope for the hospital and central cancer registry levels.

    Models

    NPCR–MERP models describe best practices for electronic reporting of cancer data, as defined by representatives of the cancer registry community (see Participants.)

    Models are available for online display or download through CyberView, a popup application that offers several ways to browse through the models:

    • Model drilldown: View hospital, state/regional, or national reporting models with drilldown from overviews to more detail
    • Model map: Click a visual layout of the model hierarchy for quick access to any level of detail
    • Model list: List all models for quick access to any level of detail
    • Glossary: Terms and references used in the project

    Rationale

    The project addresses the President's health initiative to implement an EHR within 10 years. NPCR–MERP will allow the cancer surveillance community to contribute to developing and implementing tools that use the EHR. Several activities play a role in moving the President's initiative forward, including

    • Creation of the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
    • Health Level 7 (HL7) development of a functional model for an EHR system.
    • CDC's Public Health Information Network (PHIN) to improve public health communications by using and promoting health data and technology standards.
    • eGov Consolidated Health Informatics project adopts government-wide implementation of interoperability standards such as HL7, SNOMED, and LOINC.

    NPCR–MERP Listserv

    Members of the cancer surveillance community can become actively involved in developing and refining the models through our listserv. This listserv provides information and requests comments on specific NPCR–MERP topics. If you would like to join the NPCR–MERP Listserv, please send e-mail.

    Participants

    CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) led NPCR–MERP during Phase I, with the Virginia Commonwealth University's Health System (VCUHS),* the Virginia Department of Health Central Cancer Registry (VCR),* and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program. In Phase II, additional partners include

    A number of organizations are participating in project activities, including

    Standards

    NPCR–MERP uses widely accepted data and technical standards and protocols. The models developed in this project will use industry standard messages and vocabularies so they can be used across the cancer surveillance community. The project will review the standards and informatics initiatives listed below.

    *Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.

    Page last reviewed: January 13, 2009
    Page last updated: January 13, 2009
    Content source: Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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