Our Cancer Center Showcase series continues with The University of Kansas Cancer Center located in Kansas City, KS. The University of Kansas Health System is comprised of ten facilities and the cancer registry collects more than 7,000 cancer cases annually.

The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s first continuous CoC accreditation began in 1934 and they have received multiple Outstanding Achievement awards. The cancer center received the NCI Cancer Center designation in 2012 and is currently pending review for the Comprehensive Cancer Center designation. In addition to these accreditations, The University of Kansas Cancer Center has held NAPBC accreditation since 2017.

The cancer registry consists of 21 staff CTRs, including one manager and one supervisor. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cancer registry was 80% remote with 20% of staff working a hybrid schedule. At the start of the pandemic, the team moved to being 100% remote. The team will continue the remote model and give local staff members the opportunity to work on site as needed. The registry staff shares remarkable longevity with a 10-year average of service to the health system and five staff members with more than 15 years of service.

The University of Kansas Cancer Center registry team collaborates with other oncology stake holders within the health system and Kansas University Medical Center to provide curated cancer registry data that supports the health system’s internal Business Intelligence Solutions (BIS) that is used for operational, strategic, clinical and research analysis. Registry staff serve as subject matter experts on many interdisciplinary meetings within the health system. In addition, The University of Kansas Cancer Center has more than 11 multidisciplinary site-specific tumor boards, for which the cancer registry team analyzes the data presented across multiple cancer center and health system leadership committees.

In 2020, the registry transitioned from the HIM department to the Oncology Service Line as a team within the cancer center’s Quality Department. The registry partners with the cancer center’s Nurse Navigation program to coordinate tumor boards as well as assist with community outreach activities, including a partnership with the Masonic Cancer Alliance. The registry team frequently collaborates with various health system partners to share best practices, educational opportunities, and mentorship. In July of 2022, the cancer registry team looks forward to presenting a poster at the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Quality and Safety Conference, highlighting their current initiatives to improve abstracting workflow.

The University of Kansas Cancer Center is in the initial planning stages to enhance registry automation to increase productivity and improve efficiency. Currently, data is merged into the registry from several different source systems. Future plans include eliminating manual steps to allow for a more streamlined process with pathology and the EMR. This will be a direct benefit to the cancer registry for more concurrent abstracting and reporting as the complexity and the number of annual cases steadily increase. This will also be key in maintaining accuracy of the data. However, the cancer center realizes that to maintain the art of cancer registry, it will be important to maintain the human element for abstraction, interpretation, and quality.

The University of Kansas Cancer Center has been an ERS partner since 2008. The educational offerings provide CTRs relevant education related to cancer registry and software innovations, changes to abstracting processes and regulatory guidelines.