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Cancer Registry

The Aspirus Cancer Registry participates in statewide and national programs to improve the quality of cancer detection and care. Aspirus maintains a Cancer Registry, as required by state law, which tracks causes, diagnosis and treatment of cancer and blood disorders. Information about each new patient diagnosed at any Aspirus hospital is sent to the Wisconsin Cancer Registry as well as the National Cancer Database, where it is combined with data from all other cancer patients and studied to find ways of improving cancer care.

The Aspirus Cancer Registry currently has information on more than 14,000 patients diagnosed and/or treated for cancer since 1988.

Confidentiality Statement

All patient information collected by the Aspirus Cancer Registry is kept confidential, in accordance with Wisconsin Law HFS 124.14 and established hospital and Wisconsin Cancer Registry policies. The information is only used collectively to aid research to improve the detection and treatment of cancer now and in the future.

Lifetime Follow-ups

Aspirus Wausau Hospital Cancer Registry records are regularly updated with information about the patient's current health status, treating physician and date of last physical examination. To capture all data for each type of cancer, patients are tracked for life.

How Information Is Obtained

The Cancer Registry staff first gathers information from the medical records of patients with a cancer diagnosis who are seen or admitted at any Aspirus Hospital. Throughout a patient's life, staff will collect information from the following sources:

  • Hospital medical records.
  • Follow-up with the patient's physician.
  • Contact with the patient or patient's family, if the physician is unknown.

Wisconsin State Statute 255.04

This statute describes how cancer cases must be reported to the state. All reporting facilities must (a) use a prescribed form to submit the cancer report, (b) follow a certain time schedule when submitting the report, and (c) report specific types of cancer and precancerous conditions. The statute also requires that any information gathered remain confidential. For more information, please visit www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/statutes.html.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

The Wisconsin Cancer Registry in considered a public health entity, which means Aspirus may continue to report cancer patient information ­ confidentially - without violating HIPAA, an act designed to protect sensitive medical information.

Accredited Cancer Program

Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons
To earn voluntary accreditation, a cancer program must meet or exceed numerous Commission on Cancer quality standards, be evaluated every three years through a survey process, and maintain levels of excellence in the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered care.   The Commission on Cancer accreditation program provides the framework for Aspirus Regional Cancer Center to improve its quality of patient care.

Aspirus Wausau Hospital's cancer program meets these criteria and has been accredited by the Commission on Cancer since 1978.