CRCConnex

Background

In partnership with the North Carolina Health Information Exchange (HIE), CRCConnex seeks to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of a state-level registry of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening activity to improve delivery of CRC screening to federally qualified health center (FQHC) and community health center (CHC) patients in North Carolina. The project is funded by the National Cancer Insitute (NCI) and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC). Dr. Alison Brenner is the Principal investigator (PI).

Our Strategy

The HITECH act of 2008 mandated state Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and said that health care delivery entities serving publicly funded patients (including Medicare, Medicaid, and state health plans) must link their electronic health records and submit encounter-level data on each of these patients. The bill also gave health care delivery entities the option to submit encounter-level data on all patients.

Within North Carolina, there are two main groups that oversee the various components on the state HIE. The NC HIE Authority (NC HIEA), housed under the NC Department of Information Technology, oversees the governance and project management of the NC HIE. NC HealthConnex is managed by SAS, who handles the data – including receipt and storage – as well as the front-end database.

UNC works with both the NC HIEA and NC HealthConnex to evaluate a state-level registry of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening activity to improve delivery of screening to patients in federally qualified health centers and community health centers. CRCConnex is partnered with two test sites, Blue Ridge Health and Roanoke-Chowan Community Health Center, to query CRC screening activities of selected patients at their centers.