Epath Coding

Registry Widgets: E-path Coding Service

Electronic pathology reporting (E-path) is a major initiative of the NPCR and its member registries. Implementing E-path increases the completeness of case ascertainment and increases the timeliness of reporting overall.

One of the challenges of E-path is finding the resources to process the incoming electronic pathology reports. Three areas where a qualified CTR is needed in the E-path process:

· Confirm the reportability of an electronic report.

Various methods of selecting potentially reportable pathology report reduce but don’t fully eliminate the number of reports that mention malignancy but aren’t actually reportable.

· Identify the number of primary cancers;

Pathologist and auto-encoders are unfamiliar with the standards for determining the number of primary tumors diagnosed on the pathology report.

· Code the histology according to cancer registry standards and rules.

Pathologist coding is not always compatible with the rules used by the cancer registry community. Additionally, auto- encoders do not recognize the cancer registry’s rules.

A qualified CTR is essential to confirm the diagnosis is reportable, to determine when more than one primary exists, and to determine the appropriate histology code according to national standards.

Registry Widgets’ E-path Coding Service provides these services in a very cost effective manner. Click HERE for more information about this unique service