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. 2020 Oct:4:993-1001.
doi: 10.1200/CCI.20.00059.

Improving Cancer Data Interoperability: The Promise of the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) Initiative

Travis J Osterman  1 , May Terry  2 , Robert S Miller  3
Affiliations

Improving Cancer Data Interoperability: The Promise of the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) Initiative

Travis J Osterman et al. JCO Clin Cancer Inform. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Because of expanding interoperability requirements, structured patient data are increasingly available in electronic health records. Many oncology data elements (eg, staging, biomarkers, documentation of adverse events and cancer outcomes) remain challenging. The Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) project is a consensus data standard created to facilitate transmission of data of patients with cancer.

Methods: In 2018, mCODE was developed through a work group convened by ASCO, including oncologists, informaticians, researchers, and experts in terminologies and standards. The mCODE specification is organized by 6 high-level domains: patient, laboratory/vital, disease, genomics, treatment, and outcome. In total, 23 mCODE profiles are composed of 90 data elements.

Results: A conceptual model was published for public comment in January 2019 and, after additional refinement, the first public version of the mCODE (version 0.9.1) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) implementation guide (IG) was presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting in June 2019. The specification was approved for balloting by Health Level 7 International (HL7) in August 2019. mCODE passed the HL7 ballot in September 2019 with 86.5% approval. The mCODE IG authors worked with HL7 reviewers to resolve all negative comments, leading to a modest expansion in the number of data elements and tighter alignment with FHIR and other HL7 conventions. The mCODE version 1.0 FHIR IG Standard for Trial Use was formally published on March 18, 2020.

Conclusion: The mCODE project has the potential to offer tremendous benefits to cancer care delivery and research by creating an infrastructure to better share patient data. mCODE is available free from www.mCODEinitiative.org. Pilot implementations are underway, and a robust community of stakeholders has been assembled across the oncology ecosystem.

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Conflict of interest statement

The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated unless otherwise noted. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/cci/author-center.

Open Payments is a public database containing information reported by companies about payments made to US-licensed physicians (Open Payments).

Figures

FIG 1.
FIG 1.
Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) governance structure (as of May 15, 2020). Alliance, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology; ASTRO, American Society for Radiation Oncology; EC, Executive Committee; MITRE, the MITRE Corporation; TRG, Technical Review Group; WG, working group.
FIG 2.
FIG 2.
Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE), version 1.0, high-level conceptual model describing domains, profiles, and properties. CMP, comprehensive metabolic panel; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; FHIR, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources; Lab/Vital, laboratory test and vital signs values.
FIG 3.
FIG 3.
Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) timeline for Health Level Seven International (HL7) publication (source: MITRE). FHIR, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources; IG, Implementation Guide.
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