The Commission on Cancer now has available the reporting tools, NCDB Hospital Comparison Benchmark Reports and the NCDB Public Benchmark Report, that share cases diagnosed through 2003 from the American College of Surgeons CoC-Approved programs. 

The Hospital Comparison Report can be used to conduct clinical review of patient diagnosis and treatment that are necessary to ensure that the quality of care provided to patients can be monitored and compared to that of other CoC-Approved Cancer Programs in the same health care system or nationally recognized groups of facilities.  It is a valuable resource for Cancer Committees to identify quality improvements for their 2006 goals. 

The Public Benchmark Reports is an easy application of NCDB data between the years 1998-2003 available to the public.  Users can design queries using data from any one or a combination of three types of hospitals, geographical areas, survival rates and information on specific cancer sites.  This is an excellent marketing tool for cancer programs.

Within the first quarter of 2006, CoC Approved Programs were notified of the opportunity to release 2004 Level II data to the Facility Information Profile System (FIPS).  Programs should discuss within their Cancer Committees whether to release their 2004 data to the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center and Web site.  The Level II data represent the total number of cancer cases diagnosed in 2004 and are displayed in a table stratified by site and stage.  Again, this can be an effective marketing tool for your cancer program.