California recently passed legislation that requires electronic reporting of cancer pathology results to the California Cancer Registry (CCR). Pathologists will be required to report cancer diagnoses electronically to CCR beginning January 1, 2019.

The new electronic reporting requirements will allow a broader use of the data—including clinical trials matching, responding to community cancer concerns with more timely data and identifying data for research studies requiring rapid identification of cancer cases.

Too help health systems, laboratories and pathologists meet new electronic-reporting requirements, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has released the California Cancer Registry (CCR) Electronic Pathology Reporting Standards Implementation Guide.

The implementation guide defines the reporting requirements and provides standardized formats for electronic pathology reporting of cancer diagnosis.  

CCR is a statewide population-based cancer registry recognized as one of the leading cancer registries in the world and has been the cornerstone of a substantial amount of research on cancer in the California population.