MDH Cancer Program

Cancer Committee
The MDH Cancer Committee, consisting of a wide range of health professionals, meets quarterly to review new policies, new programs, patient care evaluations, and the cancer registry database.

Tumor Board
The Tumor Board meets monthly to confidentially discuss newly diagnosed cases in order to continually improve performance and the quality of care for cancer patients.

Cancer Registry
The MDH Cancer Registry, established in 1981, currently maintains a database of over 4,000 cancer patients – their history, diagnosis, therapy, and outcome. This data is used for large-scale studies and in the development of state and national statistics. Of the patients currently being tracked, the MDH Cancer Registry has a successful follow-up rate of 90 percent.

Cancer Program Accreditation
Since 1983, the MDH cancer program has been granted approval by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) of the American College of Surgeons. Receiving care at a CoC-approved cancer program ensures that a patient will have access to comprehensive care, including state-of-the-art services and equipment; a multidisciplinary, team approach to coordinate the best treatment options; information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options; access to cancer-related information, education, and support; a cancer registry that collects data and offers lifelong patient follow-up; and ongoing monitoring and improvement of care. The CoC Approval’s Program sets quality-of-care standards for cancer programs and reviews the programs to ensure they conform to those standards. Approval by the CoC is given only to those facilities that have voluntarily committed to providing the highest level of quality cancer care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.

Cancer program surveys are a comprehensive evaluation of the entire scope, organization, and activity of a cancer program. These include a review of cancer committee leadership, cancer registry data management, clinical services, research, community outreach, and quality improvement. A survey is performed every three years by a physician surveyor who is specially trained to evaluate compliance with the 36 standards that are required for approval.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 1.3 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed this year. There are currently more than 1,400 CoC-approved cancer programs in the US and Puerto Rico, representing close to 25 percent of all hospitals. These hospitals diagnose and/or treat 80 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients each year.

For more information about the MDH Cancer Program, please contact the Cancer Registrar at (309) 833-4101, ext. 13520.

2009 Cancer Program Accreditation

2009 Cancer Program Annual Report