Population Heath Informatics Can Advance Interoperability: National Program of Cancer Registries Electronic Pathology...

Area of Science:

• Public Health Informatics
• Cancer Surveillance
• Health Data Exchange

Background:

• US central cancer registries (CCRs) possess extensive data from diverse clinical settings.
• CCRs are crucial for advancing cancer health information exchange.
• This initiative focuses on improving data flow within cancer informatics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) cancer informatics data exchange initiative.
• To leverage existing infrastructure for enhanced data transmission.
• To facilitate standardized electronic pathology (ePath) data exchange.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) cloud-based Informatics Messaging Services (AIMS) Platform.
• Enabling direct transmission of standardized ePath data from laboratories to CCRs in multiple states.
• Employing a single platform/portal to consolidate data streams.

Main Results:

• The APHL AIMS Platform facilitates data submission from large national laboratories to a central point.
• State health departments receive data via a secure portal, streamlining communication with CCRs.
• This approach eliminates the need for separate data exchange routes with each CCR.

Conclusions:

• Established cancer registry data standards and a unified platform are key to successful ePath data exchange.
• NPCR plans to expand this model, aligning with clinical cancer informatics efforts.
• The 50 NPCR-supported CCRs offer significant potential for developing and disseminating cancer data informatics initiatives.