Pathology Electronic Reporting (PERT) Committee

The Pathology Electronic Reporting (PERT) Committee oversees, develops, and maintains the CAP electronic Cancer Protocols (eCP). The eCP is the electronic version of the CAP Cancer Protocols that are published by the CAP Cancer Committee.

In addition, PERT provides leadership in standardized, structured reporting of anatomic pathology data, including how these are captured, reported, discretized, transmitted, received, retrieved, aggregated, stored, and made interoperable with other clinical data relevant to patient care and public health. In this role, PERT works as a member of the Council on Informatics and Pathology Innovation (CIPI) to recommend standards to promote interoperability in anatomic pathology reporting.

This committee reports to the Council on Informatics and Pathology Innovation. View a list of the Current Committee Members.

Responsibilities and Activities 

• Reports to the Council on Informatics and Pathology Innovation (CIPI).
• Aligns development of all CAP Cancer Protocols derived products as closely as possible. Coordinates issues regarding the eCP and CAP Cancer Protocols with the CAP Cancer Committee and via joint task forces to create and update protocol and associated metadata and formatting.
• Acts as external quality reviewers for the eCP releases (i.e. reviewing HTML protocol format, metadata, and overall modeling of report order in the protocols) to reduce the risk of error that may lead to adverse outcomes.
• Provides oversight for the Vendor Implementation Collaboration (VIC) program, which provides a structured process designed to improve vendor implementation of the CAP eCP’s. Committee member oversight and involvement includes participation in vendor engagement and vendor AP-LIS validation / verification activities which are designed to improve product usability, functionality, and increased physician (member) satisfaction.
• Translates CAP electronic Cancer Protocols (eCP) content into an implementable informatics framework, e.g., report order and text. Supports efforts to create query tools to strengthen validation processes such as release quality control and quality assurance.
• Acts as advisory board for issues of user implementation.
• Facilitates communication among the pathologist end-user, vendors, public health, staff, and the CAP Cancer Committee. Educate and elicit feedback from the House of Delegates (HOD), other compliant eCP user organizations (e.g., Ontario Health), and other key stakeholders. 
• Prepares manuscripts and submit publications concerning product releases, implementation and use, and standardized structured data capture, reporting, and exchange.
• Supports other CAP ventures into synoptic reporting. Works with other CAP committees (e.g. Informatics, Cytopathology, Autopsy, Surgical Path, etc.) and external organizations (e.g. AAPA, ACR, ACOS, ONC, FDA, CDC, ICCR) to enhance interoperability and structured data.

Expertise or Experience

• Open-mindedness
• Demonstrated leadership
• Knowledge and expertise in anatomic pathology, cancer reporting and/or clinical informatics
• Interest in the advancement of pathology through structured data reporting
• Pathologist members should be AP boarded

Benefits of Committee Membership

• Members of the PERT committee will have the opportunity to work on interesting and intellectually challenging cancer informatics issues and other health informatics projects that promote standards in healthcare.

 Representation on Committee Beyond the CAP

• The PERT Committee consists of a maximum of 20 members (excluding CAP staff). This size reflects the significant workload of the weekly meeting schedule.
  • A chair who is a current or past member of PERT
  • A minimum of five pathologists
  • A minimum of one outside member representing cancer registries or other relevant agencies. These may be non-pathologists.