California State Assembly Bill (AB) 2325

August 7, 2017

California State Assembly Bill (AB) 2325, signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 14, 2016, requires all pathologists diagnosing cancers to report said diagnoses to the California Cancer Registry (CCR) electronically by January 1, 2019.

CCR is a program of the California Department of Public Health. This is a statewide, population-based, cancer registry that collects information about almost all cancers diagnosed in the state of California. CCR is recognized as one of the leading registries in the world, and has been the cornerstone of a substantial amount of research on cancer in the California population.

Prior to the passage of (AB) 2325, only those cancer-treating facilities and physicians were required to report cancer cases to California Cancer Registry. This actually delayed the reporting of the incidence of cancer by 6 to 24 months to allow for treatment data to be included in the report. With the passing of (AB) 2325, pathologists will now report the diagnosis of cancer to CCR in near-time, which allows the cancer incidence data to be available much more quickly for broader cancer surveillance and research use, such as responding to community cancer concerns with more timely data, and identifying patients for research studies.  To date, CCR has collected detailed information on over 5.5 million cases of cancer among Californians diagnosed from 1988 forward with 185,000 new cases added annually.

In preparation for the January 1, 2019 compliance date, CCR has developed a Pathology Reporting Standards Implementation Guide which defines the reporting requirements needed for pathologists to comply with the new cancer reporting mandate. This guide can be found at www.ccrcal.org/ab2325.shtml.

Should you have any additional questions, please contact your Practice Manager.