Cancer Registry Management
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 Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR), given by the National Cancer Registrar Association (NCRA). The Cancer Registry Management program has provisional accreditation by National Cancer Registrars Association.
This is a limited enrollment program that begins in the fall semester and may be completed in four semesters.
Prerequisites:
- High school graduation or High School Equivalency Certificate.
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 BIO 231 and BIO 232 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.
Cancer Registry Management Certificate
26 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 | 4 |
| Total Hours | 26 | |
Cancer Registry Management Courses
Note: Cancer Registry Management Courses belong to Health Information Technology (HIT) discipline.
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.
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.
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.
Fee: $10
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.
Fee: $10
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.
Fee: $20
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.
Fee: $20
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.
Fee: $20