Why does the ACCR need patient identifying information?
The value of the registry depends on having accurate, individually identifiable information. Identifiers are important because cancer patients are seen in more than one health care facility which means that duplicate reports are submitted to the ACCR. Without patient identifiers the ACCR would not be able to consolidate duplicate reports. If we were unable to consolidate records Arkansas would appear to have a much higher rate of cancer than it actually has.
