Dr. Norden on Differences Between mCODE and Cota's CNA Network

Andrew Norden, MD, MPH, MBA, chief medical officer, Cota, discusses differences between mCODE and Cota’s CNA Network.

The mCODE initiative has been compared with Cota’s Cota nodal address (CNA) Network, but the 2 are not in competition because they serve different purposes, explains Norden. The CNA isolates homogeneous cohorts of patients in order to identify unnecessary variances in costs and outcomes. Conversely, mCODE provides a list of important data points that should be collected for patients with cancer so that further questions can be asked and addressed. These data points may come from providers, life science institutions, or payers. Everyone should have a vested interest in ensuring that these goals are met—especially Cota, says Norden.

Cota is especially supportive of the mCODE initiative and has engaged their initiative leaders to work collaboratively. If mCODE is widely adopted, one of the major advantages will be its applicability to medical record data points. This would make the ability to extract and analyze real-world data points significantly easier for the medical community, concludes Norden.