Linking Registry Data with Medicare and Medicaid

West Virginia Cancer Registry

The state of West Virginia, which is located entirely in Appalachia, experiences cancer-related health disparities that are common in rural areas. Limited information is available about costs associated with cancer health disparities in West Virginia. Therefore, data are needed to assess not only the morbidity and mortality of cancer in West Virginia, but also cancer care costs to determine how they differ from national estimates.

A research team from West Virginia University (WVU), in collaboration with West Virginia Cancer Registry (WVCR) staff, linked West Virginia cancer data to Medicaid and Medicare research files. The resulting dataset contains information on case demographics (date of birth, gender, and race), cancer characteristics (stage and morphology), and Medicare and Medicaid claim data (procedure codes, dates of services, charges, and amount paid).

Additionally, a file containing cases with unknown vital status will be sent to the National Death Index to ascertain vital status. The final dataset will be essential for conducting research on access to care, health care costs, and medical care outcomes in West Virginia.

Future work in cancer-related health services and outcome research resulting from this new dataset can benefit West Virginia residents greatly and improve health care accessibility statewide. Additionally, this research project led to an ongoing collaborative relationship between the WVCR and WVU.