Click here to see Part I of this article
Non-analytic cases are classified, in the "new" system, according to the reason a patient is non-analytic (to the reporting institution), or the reason a patient who never received care at this institution has had his/her case abstracted. Non-analytic cases are coded with two-digit numbers ranging from 30–49. It may be important to note that the Commission on Cancer does not require accredited institutions to abstract non-analytic cases. However, many community registries do abstract such cases; perhaps they are required to by their central registries, by the hospital, by their State Registry, or as a program or hospital institution decision. The chart below provides an easy reference to the new two digit classification scheme for non-analytic cancer patients.
It is common for academic centers to have a higher percentage of non-analytic cancer patients due to there being a referral center.
If a high number of non-analytic patients come from a certain area, it may be an opportunity to setup a new program or new services in that community. As well, a high number of non-analytic patients who are near the end of life may be able to support your palliative care program.
Registrar Jerri Linn Phillips, who is also Manager of Information Technology and Data Standards, for the National Cancer Data Base, at the Commission on Cancer, has created two graphics (click here to view Figure 2 & 3), that further describe how registrars can easily classify a non-analytic patient into one of the new (2010) class of case categories.