Cancer Registry – Start Your Engines!

Are you ready to report cancer cases diagnosed in 2014?  Summer brings races. Running races, bike races, boat races, and of course automobile races. While NASCAR and Indy Car drivers start their engines, cancer registries are revving up to report their 2014 cases.

 

Elizabeth Patena, M.D., CTRVP of Cancer Registry Elizabeth Patena, M.D., CTR VP of Cancer Registry

But before you start abstracting and coding cases diagnosed in 2014, your registry software must be ready! Here are three important steps to ensure your software is ready for these cases.

  • Check with your vendors when the upgrade will occur.  Data should be transmitted in the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) layout 14.0.
  • Collaborative Stage (CSv0205) is required for use with cancers diagnosed 1/1/2014 and later.  In the event that after installation of this version, cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2014 are identified for reporting, this version may be used.
  • An edits metafile (based on the NAACCR version 14 Edits Metafile (NAACCR v14 edits) should be used after upgrade to the NAACCR version 14.0 layout (NAACCR v14 layout) and CS data conversion.

Three More Registry Reminders for 2014 Data Collection

  • For Multiple Primary and Histology Coding (MPH) there will be no changes for diagnosis year 2014.  The next version change is planned for 2015.
  • For Hematopoietics there will no longer be different versions depending on year of diagnosis.  “Version” is no longer applicable.  Instead “published date” will be used.

SEER will be referring to the “published date” for the manual and database rather than diagnosis year.  The actual final publication date for the revised manual will be inserted. Note that the revised manual and accompanying database are to be used with ALL hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms (9590/3 – 9992/3) with diagnosis date of 1/1/2010 and forward.

All information from the 2010 and 2012 databases, as well as other changes made during review of the information for the 2014 release, has been consolidated into one database.  The option to switch between 2010 and 2012 versions has been removed.

Any discontinued SSFs already collected can remain in registry databases, and registries may continue to collect these data items, especially if your cancer committee chooses to continue collecting them.   However, codes and coding instructions will not be updated, and registries must refer to previous versions of instructions for coding guidance.  Questions for these SSFs will no longer be accepted on the CAnswer Forum.

For a list of FAQs regarding discontinued SSFs, check https://cancerstaging.org/cstage/about/news/Documents/disc-ssf-faq.pdf

Summer is here and your data collection race is on!

Subscribe to our MRA Newsletter

Bringing peace of mind to healthcare since 1986

Share this post with your friends

You may be interested in...

AHIMA Approved

This program has been approved for continuing education unit(s) (CEUs) for use in fulfilling the continuing education requirements of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Granting of Approved CEUs from AHIMA does not constitute endorsement of the program content or its program provider.