Optimizing electronic reporting of pathology data to enhance efficiency in cancer registration to support cancer control planning

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Receipt of pathology reports in a readable format can speed up reporting of cancer cases to support cancer prevention, screening and treatment planning. We evaluated the time and labor cost of pathology data acquisition via paper versus electronically.

METHODS: Cancer Data Registry of Idaho collected prospective data by mapping detailed steps based on whether pathology data were received via paper or electronic reports. We conducted a time-and-motion assessment to identify the time spent on each step to estimate the cost.

RESULTS: During the assessment period (January-March 2021), the registry received 1698 paper and 3801 electronic pathology reports. The average time for preparing a paper report was 8.1 min versus 1.5 min for an electronic report. The direct labor cost was $7.01 ($4.99 - $7.88) versus $1.41 ($1.00 - $1.59) for paper versus electronic report processing.

CONCLUSION: Acquisition of paper pathology reports was about five times more expensive than electronic pathology reports and adoption of electronic reporting may increase efficiency in cancer registration. The findings provide evidence to scale-up electronic reporting which could potentially improve timeliness of receipt of data for cancer control planning.