FIPS Level II Frequently Asked Questions
- What are Level II data?
- Where are Level II data posted?
- How are the Level II data displayed on the CoC Hospital Locator?
- How often are Level II data posted to FIPS?
- How does our cancer program know if Level II data have been posted to FIPS?
- Who can access and release Level II data?
- How do we review Level II data?
- Can our cancer committee offer an explanation of the data to patients viewing our program?
- How does our hospital indicate its decision about Level II data?
- How do we know whether or not our hospital’s Level II data have been released?
- Is there a deadline to release Level II data?
- What if the cancer committee doesn’t meet before the deadline to release Level II data?
- What happens to our hospital’s old Level II data?
- Why are there differences between the FIPS data table and NCDB data submission summary?
- What does our hospital do to correct major differences with Level II data?
- How do I view the Level II data on the CoC Hospital Locator after my hospital releases it?
- Why are there no Level II data available for our hospital?
- How do I update the hospital information that was originally released with the Level II data (i.e. hospital name, bed count, text box narrative)?
- How do I change the original release decision?
- How does the public use Level II data?
- How can the hospital cancer program use Level II data?
A. Level II data are cancer cases diagnosed and treated at your hospital within a specific time period.
Your hospital’s cancer caseload, as submitted to the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB), is run through our internal processing, categorized by site and stage, and posted in a distribution table within the Facility Information Profile System (FIPS). Level II data does NOT include patient characteristics, treatment, or outcome data.
Q. Where are Level II data posted?
A. Level II data are posted in the Facility Information Profile System (FIPS) for review by your cancer committee, and upon release by your hospital, they are subsequently posted on the CoC Hospital Locator.
Q. How are the Level II data displayed on the CoC Hospital Locator?
A. Level II data are displayed by anatomic site and stage on the CoC Hospital Locator. Patients can view the data table by clicking the “Annual Caseload” link that appears under your hospital’s contact information.
Q. How often are Level II data posted to FIPS?
A. Level II data are posted every year, after the annual call for data is completed and processed. This tends to be in the first quarter of each year.
Q. How does our cancer program know if Level II data have been posted to FIPS?
A. When a new Level II data table is posted to FIPS, the cancer registrar, the cancer program administrator and the cancer committee chair receive an e-mail notification from CoCDatalinks@facs.org.
Q. Who can access and release Level II data?
A. Any designated cancer program staff member that has access to CoC Datalinks can access FIPS and release Level II data after review and approval by the hospital cancer committee. A valid user ID and password are required. If you have a question about your login information, please e-mail: CoCDatalinks@facs.org.
Q. How do we review Level II data?
A. In order to review Level II data, follow these simple steps:
- Go to CoC Datalinks
- Enter your personal user ID and password.
- From the activity menu, click on "FIPS Level II: Cases Reported to the NCDB by Site and Stage."*
- Review the FIPS Level II data disclaimer and click “Accept”.
- Review the data table for accuracy.
- Have the cancer committee take action on the release of this data.
- Add a hospital narrative using the text box. (optional)
- Indicate your hospital's decision by choosing one of the three buttons above the data table.
*If you do not have the “FIPS Level II: Cases Reported to the NCDB by Site and Stage” link on your activity menu, then this must be the first time you have accessed the Facility Information Profile System (FIPS). You will need to click on “FIPS: Resources and Services” and accept the Facility Information Profile System, Survey Application Record Information Statement. Once you have accepted that statement there will be a link to Level II data on your activity menu.
Q. Can our cancer committee offer an explanation of the data to patients viewing our program?
A. There is a text box provided on the FIPS Level II Web page. This text box (1,000 character limit) is provided for cancer programs to add a facility narrative statement after the standard facility descriptive statement. This narrative will appear above the Annual Caseload table following the Facility Descriptive Statement.
Use the free text section to describe your cancer program to the patient population/public: e.g. newly added/unique services or equipment, cancer program's approach to patient care, mission, specialty centers, and patients diagnosed elsewhere but treated at your hospital and not represented in your Level II data, etc.
Q. How does our hospital indicate its decision about Level II data?
A. Each year after new data are posted to FIPS, your cancer committee must indicate whether it chooses to release Level II data. Regardless of whether or not your hospital chooses to release Level II data, a designated CoC Datalinks user must indicate the decision within FIPS every year by choosing one of three buttons:
- Accurate Release
- Write a descriptive narrative about your hospital. This information will appear above the Site and Stage table on the CoC Hospital Locator.
- Accurate Do Not Release
- Contact CoC@facs.org with reason for decision
- Inaccurate Do Not Release
- Contact NCDB@facs.org to resolve data inaccuracies
Q. How do we know whether or not our hospital’s Level II data have been released?
A. Once the release decision has been made and this decision is indicated by clicking on one of three buttons above the Level II data table, a notification will appear at the top of the FIPS Level II page indicating the action your hospital has taken. If no action has been taken, the notification at the top of the page will indicate that the data remain in DRAFT form.
Q. Is there a deadline to release Level II data?
A. A deadline for action on Level II data is established each year when the data are posted to FIPS and the e-mail notification has been sent. We do ask cancer committees to take action at the earliest convenience as this action will allow patients to see the most current data from a hospital in a timely manner.
Q. What if the cancer committee doesn’t meet before the deadline to release Level II data?
A. While the FIPS Level II release can be done at any time throughout the year, the NCDB will only accept corrections to the annual caseload data until the established deadline. Please review the table for accuracy, make any case corrections and submit prior to the deadline and contact NCDB@facs.org with any discrepancies. An updated FIPS Level II data table will be posted if case corrections have been made.
Q. What happens to our hospital’s old Level II data?
A. If the hospital chooses not to release the latest Level II data but had released the previous year's data, then the previous year's data will remain posted on the CoC Hospital Locator until December 31. However, if the hospital did not release the previous year's data, no Level II data will display and the user will not see a link titled "Annual Caseload" on the CoC Hospital Locator.
Q. Why are there differences between the FIPS data table and the NCDB data submission summary?
A. Your FIPS Level II Data table and NCDB submission receipt table may not match exactly. There may be differences from the number of cases in your registry database if you have accessioned additional 2009 diagnoses since submitting data to the NCDB. In addition, the site-stage receipt includes all non-rejected records diagnosed in 2009 submitted in a particular file. The FIPS Level II table is compiled from the stored NCDB data after all input files with 2009 cases are processed, and may have fewer cases as a result of deduplication.
Q. What does our hospital do to correct major differences with Level II data?
A. If significant data differences are found in the FIPS data table, please e-mail NCDB@facs.org and our staff will assist in reviewing your hospital’s Level II data and previous NCDB submissions. You may wish to look at the NCDB submission history (from the CoC Datalinks Activity Menu) and examine the edits and number of records that were rejected. You may also wish to examine the Site-Stage report in this area. Please note that the NCDB Site-Stage report is not intended to match the FIPS Level II data table. The NCDB report serves as a "receipt" and accounting tool of your data submission to the NCDB, which is based solely on the ICD-O Site Codes versus by anatomic site in the Level II data table.
Q. How do I view the Level II data on the CoC Hospital Locator after my hospital releases it?
A. To view your hospital’s Level II data on the CoC Hospital Locator:
- From the CoC Home Page (www.facs.org/cancer) click on CoC Hospital Locator from the right-hand quick links menu.
- Click on "Find a CoC-accredited Cancer Program Near You".
- Enter the exact hospital name, or the location (city, state or zip) and click "Start Search".
- Under the hospital name and contact information, there will be a link titled "Annual Caseload". Click on that link to view the data table and hospital information.
Q. Why are there no Level II data available for our hospital?
A. A Level II data table may not be available in FIPS for one of three reasons: 1) NCDB staff has received the data submission and have encountered technical difficulties in loading and processing the data, 2) no data submission has been received from your hospital’s registry, or 3) the data have been received and processed, but not yet posted to FIPS.
To confirm which of these three conditions pertains to your hospital, please contact us at NCDB@facs.org.
Note: If technical problems have been experienced in loading data, NCDB staff has been in contact with your hospital to notify it of the nature of the problem.
Q. How do I update the hospital information that was originally released with the Level II data (ie: hospital name, bed count, text box narrative)?
A. In order to update hospital information and re-release to the CoC Hospital Locator:
- Log into CoC Datalinks
- Click on "FIPS Level II: Cases Reported to the NCDB by Site and Stage"
- Review and update text
- Click the "Accurate/Release" button above your FIPS Level II data table again
This action will replace the previous Level II information.
A hospital will need to select "Accurate/Release" again if:
- The hospital name changes
- The facility narrative in the text box is updated
- The facility descriptive statement information changes (bed count, category of accreditation, etc.).
Q. How do I change the original release decision?
A. To change the original release decision, simply log into CoC Datalinks, click on "FIPS Level II: Cases Reported to the NCDB by Site and Stage" and select a different release option from the three above the FIPS Level II Data table.
Q. How does the public use Level II data?
A. Patients use the CoC Hospital Locator to search for treatment facilities in their area. Once a location is designated and a list of CoC-accredited cancer programs appears, the patient can use Level II data to ask the cancer care team questions about their experience in treating specific cancers.
The CoC provides the opportunity to enter a narrative, which can further describe the unique strengths and features of the cancer program and information not otherwise captured in FIPS. This information will appear above the data table on the CoC Hospital Locator.
Q. How can the hospital cancer program use Level II data?
A. Hospitals can use Level II data as a quality improvement tool to identify gaps in care and/or the need for:
- support services based on frequently diagnosed cancers
- prevention activities for the community
- early detection projects to address late stage diagnoses
- collaboration with community agencies.
Your feedback is always welcome. Please feel free to forward your comments, questions, and suggestions to CoC@facs.org.
Revised July 6, 2011