#7: Using Electronic Billing Data from Specialty Provider Offices to Reduce Cost

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The National Cancer Act of 1971 mandated the collection, analysis, and dissemination of all data useful in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The act resulted in the establishment of the National Cancer Program under which the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program was developed. The goals of the SEER program are: 1) assembling and reporting, on a periodic basis, estimates of cancer incidence and mortality in the United States, 2) monitoring annual cancer incidence trends to identify unusual changes in specific forms of cancer occurring in population subgroups defined by geographic, demographic, and social characteristics, 3) providing continuing information on changes over time in the extent of disease at diagnosis, trends in therapy, and associated changes in patient survival and 4) promoting studies designed to identify factors amenable to cancer control interventions, such as: a) environmental, occupational, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related exposures;b) screening practices, early detection, and treatment;and c) determinants of the length and quality of patient survival. This study addresses the enhancement of central registry data collection activities and the change order is consistent with number 9b in the statement of work which requires the contractors to act as administrators [unreadable]In special studies including, but not limited to, studies pertinent to the NCI Surveillance Program." This purpose of this study is to demonstrate whether increased cancer case reporting from physician offices can e accomplished through the use of automated processes. Cancers are increasingly diagnosed and treated wholly outside of a hospital based setting which makes it increasingly difficult and expensive to find and abstract new cases. The MD Office Automated software application was previously developed and tested under NCI support with the goal of providing a system which could passively identify and transmit potentially eligible cases treated within oncology practices. The intent of this study is to further demonstrate the potential effectiveness of this application.