ASCO Prepares to Launch Big Data Cancer Quality Initiative

Summary

Avalere published an article this week on ASCO's plan to launch CancerLinQ™.

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On January 21, The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced that it will launch a groundbreaking cancer quality initiative that will harness real-world patient data to advance cancer care.

The initiative centers on the development of CancerLinQ, a health information technology (HIT) platform comprised of electronic health records. The initiative will be led by physicians, and is the first major cancer data initiative centered on improving patient care. The platform is expected to go live in eight oncology practices and large cancer centers later this year, with seven additional large cancer centers in the process of joining.

Ultimately, the database will house millions of electronic health records from multiple sources, and clinicians will have access to an unprecedented amount of real-world patient care data, which will enable them to offer more personalized insights into a patient’s disease. In particular, clinicians will receive instant feedback on patient treatment plans and outcomes through the use of innovative clinical decision-making tools. Access to the database will be free to all ASCO members.

Avalere’s Take /

CancerLinQ mirrors ongoing efforts to improve both quality and efficiency in the U.S. healthcare system. The goals of this initiative align with President Obama’s recently announced Precision Medicine Initiative, which aims to increase investment and patient/provider engagement in personalized medicine in the United States.

As the demand for quality and value continues to increase, high-quality data for use in registries, development of clinical pathways, and research is becoming increasingly important. Standardization and interoperability have long been identified as significant hurdles in the exchange of clinical data. ASCO’s decision to allow clinicians to lead this initiative may jumpstart a new trend for similar data initiatives among health providers. Furthermore, organizations creating patient registries or quality improvement initiatives may adopt similar standards to ASCO’s CancerLinQ, making real-world data exchange more seamless and less complex.

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