Baptist Cancer Services Registry Received Gold Certification

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

Jackson, Miss. - December 16, 2008 - The Mississippi Cancer Registry began a certification process this year to recognize hospitals submitting timely, complete and high quality data to the Mississippi Cancer Registry. Baptist’s Cancer Registry received a Gold Certification, which is the highest level for meeting the qualifications for data submission to the state registry.

“Our registry helps to assure that Mississippi can effectively monitor the cancer burden in our state,” said Baptist Cancer Registry Coordinator Pam Barlow. “The Cancer Registry is a major component of the Comprehensive Community Cancer Program at Baptist.”

The registry goals include timely, accurate and complete data management system for patients diagnosed and/or treated with cancer or a reportable tumor since January 1982. This comprehensive database includes primary site, tumor histology, AJCC, SEER and Collaborative stage of disease, treatment modalities and lifetime follow-up, which is maintained on registry software.

“The data is used in many ways including documentation of the incidence of cancer seen at Baptist, education, evaluation of patient care, treatment results and survival trends,” Barlow added. “Review of the 2007 primary sites for Baptist Medical Center reveals lung continues as the most common site, followed by breast, prostate, colorectal and endometrium. The age at diagnosis for sixty-four percent of patients was greater than 60 years of age, and the female to male ratio was 54 to 46 which is consistent with previous years’ data.”

For more information, download Baptist Cancer Services annual report here.

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