Standardization and Registry Development Steering Committee: Modular Records Task Force

One of the NAACCR Board strategic initiatives in the Strategic Plan is Innovative Approaches to Data Collection (Minimal Datasets and Partial Records). The objective is to monitor national activities involving rapid reporting and partial record reporting to provide guidance on the operational implications of such developments for central cancer registries. This objective falls under the Standardization and Registry Development Steering Committee (S&RD SC). As the S&RD SC discussed this objective, they found that the definition of “partial records” varied among the SC members. A few SC members met to draft a charter and agreed to move from the term “partial records” to “modular records.” The S&RD SC reviewed and approved the Modular Records Task Force charter at their May 2025 meeting.

The Modular Records Task Force will work to define modular record components and naming conventions that characterize the distinct phases of the patient’s cancer journey. There will be a period of information gathering through historical and current articles (NAACCR and other standards). Modular records or event-driven phases (i.e., screening, stage, treatment, survival, etc.) will be identified and defined specifically in consideration of the electronic data availability. This task force will recommend the next steps for future initiatives, how to accomplish them, resources needed and provide a potential timeline.

The S&RD SC will work closely with the Member Ambassador Program (MAP) to recruit a lead or co-leads for the task force as well as the task force members.