CancerLinQ: Growing and Evolving to Meet Patient and Provider Needs

Mar 08, 2017

This is the final article in a five-part series that provides an overview of ASCO’s history and mission and how its innovative big data platform, CancerLinQ®, is supporting and furthering the Society’s objectives. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

CancerLinQ®, ASCO’s big data platform aimed at organizing the ever-growing quantity of electronic health record information into usable knowledge, personalized for each and every patient, currently has 80 participating practices. The practices—located in 40 states and the District of Columbia—range from small private providers to large academic medical centers.

CancerLinQ collects patient data from the electronic health records of these providers, de-identifies it using special software, and, in turn, allows users from the practices to view this aggregated, de-identified data, which represents potentially millions of patients with cancer and will be used to inform decisions about patient care. The goal is to improve the quality of care for patients with cancer.

In pursuit of that objective, ASCO also is reviewing the health care provider side of the equation and looking at ways that CancerLinQ can help health care providers fulfill federally mandated quality reporting requirements, potentially freeing their time for more direct time spent with patients.

CancerLinQ currently incorporates quality measures derived from ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) platform and is looking to expand this functionality in 2017. This is particularly important as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services encourage practices to consider using the Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) reporting mechanism introduced in 2014. QCDRs can pull quality measures data directly from an electronic health record on behalf of the eligible professional. Through some QCDRs, practices will be able to meet the following MIPS requirements:

  • Quality measure reporting
  • Improvement activities attestation
  • Advancing care information reporting

For more information on how to participate or partner with CancerLinQ®, please visit CancerLinQ.org.

Also available on the website is a form to request a live demonstration of CancerLinQ, conducted by a member of the CancerLinQ LLC team at your convenience.


Advertisement
Back to Top