Pathology Reporting Using eMaRC Plus

With the increasing submission of electronic pathology reports to central cancer registries (CCRs), it is essential for CCRs to have software that efficiently processes the reports once they are received.  Electronic Mapping, Reporting and Coding Plus (eMaRC Plus) is a freely available data-mapping, filtering, and auto-coding application developed by the CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) that can be used by CCRs to process pathology reports received in the Health Level 7 (HL7) format. eMaRC Plus integrates with the Public Health Information Network Messaging System (PHINMS) to automate receipt of pathology reports from pathology laboratories.

 

The eMaRC Plus application reads HL7 v.2.3.1 ORU^01 messages, recognizes cancer terms, stores discrete data elements in database tables to create a pathology lab database, and builds and stores partial abstracts in the database. Various coded data values are translated from the HL7 standard to the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) standard to create partial abstracts in NAACCR format. The application also provides a user interface to subsequently review the text of the pathology reports and manually enter codes for additional data elements in the partial abstracts.  eMaRC Plus also has the capability to search the text of messages for negated and non-negated terms (e.g. “no evidence of melanoma” vs. “melanoma”) to identify reportable cases. Negated terms are identified by using the Negex algorithm.

 

This presentation will provide an overview of the capabilities of eMaRC Plus, including a live demonstration of functions available in the application.

 

Results: A working application that can directly consume electronic pathology reports sent by pathology laboratories and convert them to a format usable by central cancer registries.