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CANCER REGISTRY DEPARTMENT
Approved Hospital Cancer Program CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System and Wadley Regional Medical Center
The UAMS AHEC-SW Cancer Registry has approached an 18-year landmark as an Approved Cancer Program for CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System and Wadley Regional Medical Center with six successful surveys from the Commission on Cancer. It is through the continued support and contributions of the two approved hospitals, physicians, medical record departments and other numerous persons we have achieved this accomplishment. The cancer registry was uniquely formed in 1989 under the leadership of Dr. Walter Barnes and Dr. Herbert Wren as a regional cancer registry with the inclusion of eleven smaller area hospitals incidence reporting. It was decided the best approach for Wadley Regional Medical Center and CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System was to share the cancer registry’s services and expenses. This was one of the first services that the two hospitals shared. The small hospital reporting was accomplished as a service to these area facilities. Drs. Barnes and Wren were visionaries and gave the cancer registry the distinction of being one of the first regional registries in Arkansas and Texas. The practice of circuit riding to eleven small hospitals in the Northeast Texas and Southwestern Arkansas region twice yearly continued for fifteen years until the State Central Cancer Registries were able to accomplish this task. In the early years of the Cancer Program, the Commission on Cancer approved both hospitals as a joint program. This program continued until the 1992-1993 when the Approvals Department of the CoC changed the category status and each facility was approved separately. The Joint Cancer Committee members requested our programs to continue to share the tumor board meetings and the joint cancer committee meetings. The approval of the sharing of these standards distinguished the UAMS AHEC-SW Cancer Registry as a unique registry and cancer program, allowing both programs to collaborate their efforts and offer more community prevention and educational services in Texarkana. The maintenance of a cancer registry is a required component of every COC-Approved Cancer Program. COC approved hospitals are required to follow patients on an annual basis through use of its cancer registry. “The data we collect allows our physicians, state, and central registries to track the stage of disease at diagnosis and all the first course of treatment done for our patients. We also follow our patients through their physicians to record any progression of disease, subsequent treatment, or recurrence information. Accurate follow up allows researchers to determine survival outcomes,” stated Ms. Ketchum. Having a cancer registry in the Texarkana area allows the medical community the ability to monitor the quality of care the patient receives. A cancer registry makes it possible for physicians to identify trends as soon as possible. The Commission on Cancer accreditation assures we are meeting specific levels of quality in areas such as treatment, outcomes, education and data management, it has not been until the past several years that specific measures have been developed that permit hospitals to compare their care for patients relative to that of other providers. These measures allow the cancer registry staff to work cooperatively and collaboratively with clinicians, administrators, and physicians to identify problems in practice, delivery, data quality and to implement best practices. The UAMS AHEC-SW Cancer Registry has enjoyed many successes in our 18 years of service and is committed to the continued development of our cancer program for the benefit of this community. The continued support of our two major facilities is appreciated as we maintain the excellent program established in 1989. Sincerely, Dianne Ketchum, CTR Director, UAMS AHEC-SW Cancer Registry
The staff coordinates weekly Tumor Board conferences and quarterly cancer committee meetings as well as tracking diagnoses, treatments, and management of outcomes of patients treated at CSMHS & WHS. This program allows physicians and administrators to provide, evaluate, and document the quality of care administered to patients. The UAMS AHEC Cancer Registry staff accessioned over 1,000 newly diagnosed and recurrent cases last year. The total number of patients accessioned into the Registry database is approximately 19,000 cases.
COC approved hospitals are required to follow patients on an annual basis through use of its cancer registry. Accurate follow- up allows researchers to determine survival outcomes. The Cancer Registry’s staff is continually monitoring the data, trends, patient care evaluations studies, national guidelines for treatment studies, number of patients being presented at our tumor boards and physician specialties participation in cancer conference meetings. Accurate staging, coding, current follow- up and the gathering of outpatient treatment information are some of the duties of the AHEC Cancer Registry staff.
Facts on Cancer Community Top Ten Sites 
American Cancer Society Facts and Figures 2006 Estimated New Cancer Cases This table represents cases diagnosed or treated in CSMHS, WHS and physician offices or private practice institutions during 2006. Only the cases submitted to the UAMS AHEC-SW Cancer Registry are reflected in this table. Cases were researched against the Cancer Registry database to eliminate duplicates.
Cancer Registry Annual Report - 2007
(Click image) For more information about cancer resources in Texarkana, visit the American Cancer Society www.cancer.org.
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