Population-based clinical cancer registries. Health care transparency in Brandenburg and Saxony

Background. In April 2013 a new act on clinical cancer registries and cancer screening (KFRG) became effective in Germany. This was another important step towards quality assurance of cancer care. Objectives. Population-based clinical cancer registers will be implemented in Germany nationwide. Material and methods. In the federal states in eastern Germany as well as in Bavaria, population-based clinical cancer registers already exist. Routine use of clinical cancer register data for improving health care transparency and oncological care will be presented for Saxony and Brandenburg. Results. In Saxony and Brandenburg completeness of clinical cancer registers is above 95%. Available data can be used to show cancer trends, to compare providers as well as to support certification of cancer centers. Conclusions. The clinical cancer registers in Saxony and Brandenburg document data of cancer patients with high completeness and are already able to fulfill most of the requirements of the new act.