Hi Mitchell,
The Maryland Cancer Registry initiated contact through national VA channels and received initial data this way. Unfortunately, that data was riddled with edits and inconsistencies that were impossible to reconcile, such as a dx in 2023 but all tx given in 2008. We chose not to process this data and instead were connected to our local VA facility. The staff there are very professional and cooperative and we have established a good relationship with them. We requested the data be sent directly from their database and it is being sent 1 year at a time, starting in 2023. This data is clean with the exception of the old radiation treatment field. They plan to correct this issue with their next update; in the meantime, we clear this edit using batch updates before processing.
All data submissions are first checked for duplicates via our MQAT tool and all unique cases are exported from this tool. We then put the bundle into Xchange Plus to check for edits and batch update the old radiation field as needed depending on date of dx. The bundle then goes into PrePlus for the final edit check, <10 edits per 400 records, and QA review. We have found the quality of abstracting to be very good from the Baltimore VA Hospital. All the 2023 data has now cleared pending without any complaints, which again speaks to the quality of the abstracting.
Maryland has had a good experience with the VA overall, both nationally and locally, and is very happy to now have this data included in the registry. If you are not seeing the quality you would like, we highly recommend getting in touch with your local VA contacts. The national folks set it up for us as they had a process they wanted to go through first so we just waited for them to do that. In terms of follow up, we have not addressed that yet.
I hope this helps you!
Carol Carlson, BS, ODS-C
Lead Data Analyst at Myriddian for the Maryland Cancer Registry
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Carol Carlson
[CompanyName]
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2025 10:28 AM
From: Mitcehll Owen
Subject: VA Facility Reporting Question
Thank you for initiating this important conversation. With the new legislation now requiring VA facilities to report qualifying cancer cases to state registries, it's encouraging to see momentum finally building in this area. At our registry, we're in the early stages of preparing workflows to integrate VA data, and we're especially interested in learning how others are managing data quality, timeliness, and compatibility with existing systems.
Have any registries here already begun pilot data exchanges or have established communication channels with local VA facilities? We're also curious about any best practices for maintaining data integrity when merging VA-submitted cases with existing records, particularly regarding deduplication and follow-up efforts. Looking forward to collaborating and learning from everyone's experiences as we navigate this transition together.
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Mitcehll Owen
[CompanyName]
Original Message:
Sent: 02-14-2025 02:20 PM
From: Karen Knight
Subject: VA Facility Reporting Question
Posted on behalf of Nancy Lebrun:
Hello all!
Are any registries actively receiving cases from your Veterans Administration? If so, how are they submitting the cases to the registry? What format are they using: WebPlus, Secured File Transfer system, another way?
Thank you for any response.
Nancy
Nancy M. Lebrun, BS, ODS-C
Director, Cancer Information Systems
Education and Training Coordinator
Rhode Island Cancer Registry
Hospital Association of Rhode Island
405 Promenade Street, Suite C
Providence, RI 02908
(401) 443-2803
Ext. 516 FAX: (401) 533-9328
Cell: (401) 651-1764
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Karen Knight
Executive Director
North American Association of Central Cancer Registries
2050 West Iles Ave., Suite A, Springfield, IL 62704
E-mail: kknight@naaccr.org
Telephone: 217-698-0800 Ext. 119
Fax: 217-698-0188
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