Tenn. Only State Not to Have Certified Cancer Registry

Tennessee is the only state whose cancer registry has never been certified.

The cancer registry tracks who is diagnosed, the type of cancer, the treatment, and the outcome.

A state must collect 90 percent of estimated cancer cases to be certified. Tennessee is at 86 percent, an improvement from last year, but still off the mark.

Speaking yesterday to cancer researchers and health care providers at the state’s annual cancer summit, Paul Story of the Tennessee Cancer Coalition says certification must be a priority.

“We’re the only state that’s not certified so we don’t want to just be standing out on that island by ourselves, but then as a more practical matter, we want to know that we have a local resource for cancer data that is reliable.”

Logistical problems have slowed the state’s progress according to Jennifer Murray of the state department of health. She says Tennessee has lacked the manpower and hasn’t communicated with smaller pockets of the state’s health care system.

Murray says her office is in the process of hiring two more employees and hopes to reach certification by next year.