SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT CASES

According to the Commission on Cancer’s FORDS 2013 manual, “pathologically and clinically diagnosed inpatient and outpatient cases must be included” (p. 2, emphasis added).

Hospital registrars and regional registry staff are to screen cases from the following sources:

• Pathology reports: including tissue (surgical pathology), cytology, hematology, bone marrow and autopsy findings.
• Medical record disease index
• Outpatient records: including radiology and ER/ED records

Note: If a patient is thought to have been diagnosed and/or received first-course treatment at another facility, hospital registrars can take advantage of the LTR’s patient search function. Contact Brent Mumphrey (bmumph@lsuhsc.edu) for details. If the case is not included in the state registry, the hospital must abstract it, using information in the records of the reporting hospital.