The Missouri Cancer Registry was established in 1972 under a contract between the Missouri Division of Health (now the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services) and the Cancer Research Center in Columbia, although data submission from hospital-based registries was voluntary. In May 1984, the Missouri General Assembly passed a bill to require hospital inpatient cancer reporting, which was signed into law by Governor Christopher S. [Kit] Bond in August 1984, (192.650 RSMo). The Missouri Cancer Registry became population-based with the1985 diagnosis year.

Congress established the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) in 1992 by enacting the Cancer Registries Amendment Act, Public Law 102-515. The NPCR, administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), allocates funds through cooperative agreements with state health departments to enhance existing central cancer registries and establish central registries in states that did not have a registry. As a recipient of NPCR funding since 1995, the Missouri central cancer registry is required to adhere to guidelines established by the CDC. The registry’s NPCR reference year is 1996.

In May 1999, the Missouri General Assembly passed a bill expanding cancer reporting to include not only hospital inpatients but also hospital outpatient settings, physician offices, pathology laboratories, ambulatory surgical centers, residential care facilities I and II, intermediate care facilities, skilled nursing facilities and free-standing cancer clinics and treatment centers. The late Governor Mel Carnahan then signed the expanded reporting statute, which became effective on August 28,1999 (192.650 – 192.657 RSMo).

In September 1999, MCR day-to-day operations as well as a number of surveillance activities were contracted to the University of Missouri (MU). Since 2002, MCR has been located within the Department of Health Management and Informatics and is a collaborative effort between MU and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) when all operations were outsourced to MU. To better reflect its activities, MCR became the Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center (MCR) in early 2011.

In 1999, the Missouri Department of Health (now the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)) contracted with the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) to outsource day-to-day operations of the Missouri Cancer Registry (MCR).  All operations of the unit was outsourced to MU in 2002. This partnership with the University has made possible expanded capabilities and increased opportunities for involvement in research. The program has evolved into the Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center (MCR) within the Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences.    

The Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center receives:
Financial support from
– The National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
– Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS)

In-kind support from
– Hospitals and other reporting facilities throughout the state
– University of Missouri-Columbia 

Reporting of cancer cases to the Missouri Department of Health (now the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services) for Missouri hospitals became mandatory in 1984 when the State General Assembly passed a bill to require inpatient reporting by hospitals. Due to changes in the health care delivery system, an increasing number of cancer cases are now being treated outside the hospital setting. Therefore an expanded cancer reporting law was passed in 1999 (RSMo 192.650, 192.653, 192.655, 192.657 and 19 CSR 70-21.010).

This law requires that pathology laboratories, ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding cancer clinics and treatment centers, physicians and long-term care facilities also report cancer cases.

In June 2008, cancer was included in the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) list of reportable diseases and conditions. This crucial update duly reinforces the importance of cancer reporting by all entities within the state.

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is authorized to make incentive payments to eligible professionals (EPs) and eligible hospitals (EHs) demonstrating meaningful use of certified Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) technology.

If you are an eligible provider or an eligible hospital, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is accepting electronic health records (EHRs) reporting from eligible providers attesting for Meaningful Use (MU) Stage 2-Cancer Reporting to a Public Health (PH) entity. Registration of your intent to use a certified EHR as a means of electronically reporting cancer cases can be completed on the DHSS Website.

Clinicians who are using EHRs and want to report cancer cases to the Missouri Cancer Registry as required by State Statutes (192.650-192.657 RSMo) but are not participating in the Meaningful Use incentive program may contact the Missouri Cancer Registry and Research Center (MCR) directly. Contact Sue Stulgo for more information.

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