Department Chair: Hanna Wierzchowski, 847.635.1695, hwierzchowski@oakton.edu
Cancer Registry Management is an advanced certificate program designed for individuals interested in data collection, management and research with the outcome of improving lives through quality cancer data management.
This program combines academic and technical studies as well as professional practice experience in Healthcare agencies and organizations. Students must be available for professional practice placement during daytime business hours and are required to provide their own transportation to assigned sites.
Those admitted to the program will be required to submit proof of medical insurance coverage. Students must receive a minimum grade of C in all HIT courses.
Graduates of this program qualify to take the national certification exam, the Oncology Data Specialist (ODS), given by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA). The Cancer Registry Management program is accredited by the National Cancer Registrars Association.
All Oakton College Health Career students in a program with a clinical component must have “clear” criminal background checks and drug screens in order to participate in any and all clinical components of any health career program courses.
Clinical placements require a health assessment, certain immunizations, yearly vaccines, substance abuse testing, criminal background check, specific skill certification (i.e., CPR) and health insurance. These requirements represent an additional cost to the student.
This is a limited enrollment program that begins in the spring semester and may be completed in four semesters.
Prerequisites:
- High school graduation or High School Equivalency Certificate 1.
Foreign high school graduates or students with foreign college credits need to send English translated copies of their transcripts to Educational Perspectives, www.edperspective.org/oakton. Students with foreign college credit should request a catalog match. - A minimum of 60 college credits or an Associate degree or a Registered Health Information Technical (RHIT) credential or a Register Health Information Administrator (RHIA) credential.
- Completion of HIT 104 with minimum grade of C.
- Completion of one of the following options with minimum grade of C:
- Completion of HIT 194 with minimum grade of C.
- Interview with and consent of HIT chair.
- Satisfactory health as demonstrated and certified by current physical examination.
- Entry level competency for EGL 101 as demonstrated by coursework or assessment.
- Clear Criminal Background Check and Clear Drug Screen.
- 1
As of January 1, 2023, the High School Equivalency Certificate became the State of Illinois High School Diploma. High School Equivalency credentials received prior to that date remain valid.
Cancer Registry Management Certificate
25 Semester Credit Hours; Curriculum: 0291
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Courses for a Certificate | ||
| HIT 107 | Cancer Registry Organization and Management | 3 |
| HIT 109 | Cancer Registry Operations | 3 |
| HIT 122 | Cancer Disease Coding and Staging | 4 |
| HIT 127 | Oncology Treatment and Coding | 4 |
| HIT 152 | Abstracting Methods in Cancer Registry | 4 |
| HIT 157 | Data Quality and Utilization in Cancer Registry | 4 |
| HIT 202 | Cancer Registry Clinical Practicum | 3 |
| Total Hours | 25 | |
Cancer Registry Management Certificate Pathway
The following Pathway is recommended for students pursuing the Cancer Registry Management Certificate.
For more information on recommended courses or program specific advising, contact the Health Career Specialist at 847.635.1844 or the Program Chair at 847.635.1695.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester One | Hours | |
| HIT 107 | Cancer Registry Organization and Management | 3 |
| HIT 109 | Cancer Registry Operations | 3 |
| Hours | 6 | |
| Semester Two | ||
| HIT 122 | Cancer Disease Coding and Staging | 4 |
| HIT 127 | Oncology Treatment and Coding | 4 |
| Hours | 8 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Semester One | ||
| HIT 152 | Abstracting Methods in Cancer Registry | 4 |
| HIT 157 | Data Quality and Utilization in Cancer Registry | 4 |
| Hours | 8 | |
| Semester Two | ||
| HIT 202 | Cancer Registry Clinical Practicum | 3 |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Total Hours | 25 | |
Note: Pathway is a recommended sequence of courses. For program-specific advising including course prerequisites and recommendations, contact the health career specialist or program chair.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Identify reportable cases that meet the criteria for inclusion in the registry.
- Apply the standards for registries set by Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR), and the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer (CoC).
- Apply abstracting, coding, and staging skills.
- Develop strategies for evaluating and improving cancer data quality.
- Analyze and present cancer data using appropriate statistical techniques.
- Develop customized reports with appropriate cancer data.
- Track patient survival data.
Cancer Registry Management Courses
Note: Cancer Registry Management Courses belong to Health Information Technology (HIT) discipline.
HIT 1043 credit hours (lecture: 3 | lab: 0)
Medical Terminology
Course presents medical terminology through study of medical word roots, prefixes and suffixes. Focus on relationships among symptomatic, disease, and procedural terms.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Term Typically Offered: Fall | Spring | Summer
HIT 1073 credit hours (lecture: 3 | lab: 0)
Cancer Registry Organization and Management
Course provides an introduction to cancer registry organization and management. Emphasis is placed on the basic knowledge of the types and purpose of cancer registries, quality control activities, accreditation, standard-setting organizations, as well as the legal and ethical issues surrounding a cancer registry.
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Cancer Registry Management Program; HIT 109 with a minimum grade of C or concurrent enrollment.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Term Typically Offered: Spring
HIT 1093 credit hours (lecture: 3 | lab: 0)
Cancer Registry Operations
Course provides an in-depth picture of the systematic processes used in the daily operations of a cancer registry. These processes include identification of cases, coding, maintaining quality, as well as lifetime follow-up and the role these elements plays in providing data for analysis. The focus will be on case eligibility requirements for state and national standards as well as the voluntary standards for accredited cancer programs of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (ACOS/CoC). The importance of cancer committees, cancer conferences and quality monitoring will be reviewed.
Prerequisite: Acceptance into the Cancer Registry Management Program; HIT 107 with a minimum grade C or concurrent enrollment.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Term Typically Offered: Spring
HIT 1224 credit hours (lecture: 2 | lab: 4)
Cancer Disease Coding and Staging
Course defines cancer and how it develops and spreads. Students will learn about the many types of cancer and how to classify these tumors utilizing globally recognized codes. Instruction on the different references which are used to assign codes for topography, morphology and extent of disease will be explored. Two major staging systems will be examined, The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM Stage and Collaborative Stage. An overview of historical staging systems will be included as a reference for students.
Prerequisite: HIT 107 and HIT 109 with a minimum grade of C; HIT 127 with a minimum grade of C or concurrent enrollment in HIT 127.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Fee: $10
Term Typically Offered: Fall
HIT 1243 credit hours (lecture: 3 | lab: 0)
Fundamentals of Medical Science
Course provides introduction to medical science. Content includes study of nature and cause of disease, patient screening, diagnostic methods, treatment, and management of patients, as well as prognosis and prevention along with practical application of knowledge by health information management professional.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Term Typically Offered: Fall | Spring
HIT 1274 credit hours (lecture: 2 | lab: 4)
Oncology Treatment and Coding
Course covers oncology treatment and coding including an overview of nomenclature and classification systems. Importance is placed on major sites of cancer, diagnostic and staging procedures, treatment modalities, clinical trials and research protocols. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging, SEER summary staging, and extent of disease concepts used by physicians and cancer surveillance organizations to determine treatment and survival will be emphasized.
Prerequisite: HIT 107 and HIT 109 with a minimum grade of C; HIT 122 with a minimum grade of C or concurrent enrollment in HIT 122.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Fee: $10
Term Typically Offered: Fall
HIT 1524 credit hours (lecture: 1 | lab: 6)
Abstracting Methods in Cancer Registry
Course is designed to introduce and apply the principles of cancer registry abstracting. Identification and selection of appropriate clinical information from medical records in a manner consistent with cancer registration regulatory core data requirements will be emphasized. Upon completion, student should be able to record, code, and stage site-specific cancer information as well as perform quality control edits to abstracted information to assure timeliness, completeness and accuracy of data.
Prerequisite: HIT 122 and HIT 127 with a minimum grade of C; HIT 157 with a minimum grade of C or concurrent enrollment in HIT 157.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Fee: $20
Term Typically Offered: Spring
HIT 1574 credit hours (lecture: 2 | lab: 4)
Data Quality and Utilization in Cancer Registry
Course introduces cancer patient follow-up methodology and processes used to obtain follow-up cancer information regarding disease status, recurrence information, subsequent treatment and development of subsequent primary cancers. The use of follow-up information within the cancer registry and healthcare organization is also reviewed. An introduction to cancer statistics with an emphasis placed on descriptive and analytic epidemiology, cancer surveillance, annual report preparation, and usefulness of statistical cancer data in a healthcare organization will be reviewed. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of physician and other follow-up resources and activities.
Prerequisite: HIT 122 and HIT 127 with a minimum grade of C; HIT 152 with a minimum grade of C or concurrent enrollment in HIT 152.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Fee: $20
Term Typically Offered: Spring
HIT 1943 credit hours (lecture: 3 | lab: 0)
Electronic Health Record and Applications
Course covers health information systems used in health care delivery systems including terminology and essential concepts of health information systems. An overview of administrative and clinical information systems is given. Course covers phases of system development life cycle and structure of electronic health record (EHR). Content includes overview of health care industry’s transitioning to electronic health record systems, components of EHR, certified EHR technology, benefits of EHR, along with privacy and security issues affecting access to and use of patient information. Students are introduced to data analytics and healthcare informatics. Course also covers database design, standards for HIT, and health information exchange. Students practice with software applications common to a healthcare setting.
Recommended: Hands-on computer experience using software in Windows, i.e., Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online
Term Typically Offered: Fall | Spring
HIT 2023 credit hours (lecture: 1 | lab: 5)
Cancer Registry Clinical Practicum
Course provides supervised hands-on clinical experience in all aspects of cancer registry organization and operation. Experience will include but not be limited to all facets of coding and abstracting of cancer data, data collection, follow-up processes, and quality assurance activities. Students will have exposure to cancer committee functions as well as cancer conferences. Upon completion, students should be able to apply cancer information management theory to cancer registry practices and standards. Students have the status of learner and shall not be considered agency employees, nor do they replace employed staff. Clinical practice is conducted as a non-paid laboratory experience under the direct supervision of a cancer tumor registrar and will include experiences in all eight National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) educational components.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor or department chair.
Instruction Type: In-Person | Online | Hybrid
Fee: $20
Term Typically Offered: Summer