Cancer Registry

Cancer Registry at Garnet Health Medical Center

Cancer Registry is an information system designed for the collection, management, and analysis of data on persons with the diagnosis of a malignant or neoplastic disease (cancer). Cancer Registries can be classified into three general types:

• Healthcare Registry - Healthcare institution registries maintain data on all patients diagnosed and/or treated for cancer at their facility - cases are reported to the central or state Cancer Registry as required by law.
• Central Registry - Central Registries are population-based registries that maintain data on all cancer patients within certain geographical areas.
• Special Purpose Registry - Special purpose registries maintain data on a particular type of cancer, such as brain tumors.

Why Maintain a Cancer Registry?

Maintaining a Cancer Registry ensures that health officials have accurate and timely information, while ensuring the availability of data for treatment, research, and educational purposes:

• Local, state and national cancer agencies use registry data in defined areas to make important public health decisions that maximize the effectiveness of limited public health funds, such as the placement of screening programs
• Cancer Registries are valuable research tools for those interested in the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer
• Fundamental research on the epidemiology of cancer is initiated using the accumulated data
• Lifetime follow-up is an important aspect of the Cancer Registry. Current patient follow-up serves as a reminder to physicians and patients to schedule regular clinical examinations and provides accurate survival information

Rapid Quality Reporting System

Garnet Health Medical Center is an active participant in the Rapid Quality Reporting System (RQRS). By offering a web-based data collection and reporting system that interfaces with the hospital’s own cancer registry operations, RQRS provides us with near real-time information on their breast and colorectal cancer patients. By forwarding RQRS alerts directly to the staff, we can more effectively assist patients who are experiencing delays to treatment or other barriers to care.

Confidentiality of patient identifying information and related medical data is strictly maintained at each Cancer Registry. Aggregate data are analyzed and published without any patient identifiers at all.

For additional information, please contact:
Karen Loos, CTR
Cancer Registry Manager
845-333-1134
kloos@garnethealth.org