“Assessment of an EMR-integrated Onco-Insight hospital-based cancer registry system for data completeness and data entry turnaround time at a tertiary care cancer center in India”

Background Tata Memorial Centre maintains one of the largest hospital-based cancer registries (HBCR) in India. The registry captures demographic, diagnostic, and treatment information from the electronic medical record (EMR), while Patterns of Cancer Care and Survival Studies (POCSS) collect additional clinical variables including comorbidity, life style, family history of cancer, histopathology, and detailed treatment and follow-up information. As these data are distributed across multiple EMR modules, abstraction is time-consuming. In 2021, the HBCR software was upgraded to the Onco-Insight platform with EMR integration to facilitate automated data retrieval. This study evaluated the platform for data completeness and abstraction turnaround time. Methods An observational evaluation using an intra-observer comparison design was conducted. Trained registry abstractors collected data using two approaches: conventional manual abstraction and the EMR-integrated Onco-Insight platform. The platform retrieves structured variables directly from the EMR while allowing manual entry for variables unavailable in structured format. Automated mapping from EMR modules to registry variables was implemented for sociodemographic, diagnostic, and treatment domains. Built-in validation rules, range checks, and mandatory field alerts were incorporated to enhance data quality. Data completeness was assessed for sociodemographic, diagnostic, and treatment variables and summarized as the proportion of cases with retrievable information. Data entry turnaround time was defined as the mean time required for abstraction and entry per case and assessed by cancer subsite for both HBCR and POCSS variables. Cases diagnosed and treated in 2021 were evaluated. Results Of 37,495 registrations in 2021, 32,359 were confirmed cancer cases. Sociodemographic variables were retrieved for all cases (97.59%). Diagnostic variables were retrieved for 13,987 cases (43.22%), and treatment variables for 16,835 cases (50%), followed by manual validation. Manual review was mainly required for patients treated outside the institution, referred between TMC centers, or to distinguish initial therapy from treatment for recurrence or progression. Follow-up information after completion of cancer-directed therapy remained fully manual. Mean abstraction time decreased substantially for HBCR from 27.17 ± 4.40 minutes to 15.07 ± 3.00 minutes. Conclusion The EMR-integrated Onco-Insight platform reduced abstraction time and improved efficiency while enabling unified entry for HBCR and POCSS. Further EMR standardization, expanded integration, and AI-enabled data extraction could strengthen registry efficiency and cancer surveillance.