Using data to effectively manage a national screening program

• Published in: Cancer 2014-08, Vol.120 (S16), p.2575-2583
• Main Authors: Yancy, Brandie, Royalty, Janet E., Marroulis, Steve, Mattingly, Cindy, Benard, Vicki B., DeGroff, Amy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Breast Neoplasms - prevention & control; data management; Early Detection of Cancer - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Mass Screening - organization & administration; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; program evaluation; Public Health; quality measures; screening; United States; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28821

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is implemented through cooperative agreements with state health departments, US territories, and tribal health organizations (grantees). Grantees typically contract with clinicians and other providers to deliver breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services. As required by the CDC, grantees report biannually a subset of patient and clinical level program data known as the Minimum Data Elements. Rigorous processes are in place to ensure the completeness and quality of program data collection. In this article, the authors describe the NBCCEDP data‐collection processes and data management system and discusses how data are used for 1) program monitoring and improvement, 2) evaluation and research, and 3) policy development and analysis. They also provide 2 examples of how grantees use data to improve their performance. Cancer 2014;120(16 suppl):2575‐83. © 2014 American Cancer Society. The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) is implemented through cooperative agreements with state health departments, US territories, and tribal health organizations (grantees) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which, as a component of the program, requires NBCCEDP grantees to collect patient and clinical data known as the Minimum Data Elements on women served through the program. The NBCCEDP data‐collection processes and data management system are described, and the authors discuss how data are used for 1) program monitoring and improvement, 2) evaluation and research, and 3) policy development and analysis.