NPCR–MERP Methods and Approach

The National Program of Cancer Registries' Modeling Electronic Reporting Project (NPCR–MERP) uses Strategic Assessment and Modeling Sessions (SAMS) to identify and document the functions and processes of cancer surveillance. Participants representing stakeholders in cancer surveillance provide their experience and perspectives.

The requirements findings documents for the SAMS held to date include

• Requirements Findings for Central Cancer Registry SAMS, March 2006:
  PDF (205KB) or Microsoft Word (438KB)
• Requirements Findings for Central Cancer Registry SAMS, October 2006:
  PDF (79KB) or Microsoft Word (239KB)
• Requirements Findings for Hospital SAMS, February 2006:
  PDF (247KB) or Microsoft Word (724KB)

Modern business analysis and modeling techniques are used to represent the flow of data through all levels of the cancer surveillance system. These techniques allow data capture to be streamlined from hospitals' Electronic Health Records (EHR) and other data sources into hospital and central cancer registries.

The Technical Development Team uses Unified Modeling Language (UML) modeling techniques to document the information obtained in the SAMS, because UML

• Provides a specialized view of the business.
• Reduces complexity.
• Purges secondary details.
• Captures facts and provides answers.

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.

The SAMS and UML modeling allow the cancer surveillance community to take advantage of advances in electronic medical records systems and improve the completeness, timeliness, and quality of data.

• Master Context Diagram (Domain Diagram) (PDF-108KB)



• Hospital Domain Diagram (PDF-73KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Domain Diagram (PDF-344KB)



• Hospital Business Use Case Diagram (PDF-82KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Business Use Case Diagram (PDF-111KB)



• Hospital Operations Use Case Diagram (PDF-42KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Operations Use Case Diagram (PDF-79KB)



• Hospital Casefinding Use Case (PDF-131KB)
• Hospital Casefinding Data Flow Diagram (Process Diagram) (PDF-89KB)



• Hospital Abstracting Use Case (PDF-42KB)
• Hospital Abstracting Data Flow Diagram (Process Diagram) (PDF-80KB)
• Hospital Abstracting Workflow Diagram (PDF-45KB)



• Central Cancer Registry Receive Batch File Use Case (PDF-227KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Receive Batch File Data Flow Diagram (Process Diagram) (PDF-105KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Receive Batch File Workflow Diagram (PDF-83KB)



• Central Cancer Registry Validate Event Report Use Case (PDF-204KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Validate Event Report Data Flow Diagram (Process Diagram) (PDF-123KB)
• Central Cancer Registry Validate Event Report Workflow Diagram (PDF-80KB)

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.doc files. These files require Microsoft Word in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Word Viewer software.