Section R9-4-401. Definitions

In this Article, unless otherwise specified:

1.        “Accession number” means a unique number, separate from a medical record number, assigned by a hospital’s cancer registry to a patient for identification purposes.

2.        “Admitted” means the same as in A.A.C. R9-10-201.

3.        “Analytic patient” means a patient, who is:

a.         Diagnosed at a facility, or

b.        Administered any part of a first course of treatment at the facility.

4.        “Basal cell” means a cell of the inner-most layer of the skin.

5.        “Behavioral health service agency” means the same as “agency” in A.A.C. R9-20-101.

6.        “Business day” means any day of the week other than a Saturday, a Sunday, a legal holiday, or a day on which the Department is authorized or obligated by law or execu- tive order to close.

7.        “Calendar day” means any day of the week, including a Saturday or a Sunday.

8.        “Calendar year” means January 1 through December 31.

9.        “Cancer” means a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and the spread of  abnormal cells.

10.     “Cancer registry” means a unit within a hospital or clinic that collects, stores, summarizes, distributes, and main- tains information specified in R9-4-403 about patients who:

a.         Are admitted to the hospital;

b.        Receive diagnostic evaluation at, or cancer-directed treatment from, the hospital or clinic; or

c.         Show evidence of cancer, carcinoma in situ, or a benign tumor of the central nervous system while receiving treatment from the hospital or clinic.

11.     “Carcinoma” means a type of cancer that is characterized as a malignant tumor derived from epithelial tissue.

12.     “Carcinoma in situ” means a cancer that is confined to epithelial tissue within the site of origin.

13.     “Case report” means an electronic or paper document that includes the information in R9-4-403 for a patient.

14.     “Chemotherapy” means the treatment of cancer using specific chemical agents or drugs that are selectively destructive to malignant cells and tissues.

15.     “Clinic” means a facility that is not physically connected to or affiliated with a hospital, where a physician, doctor of naturopathic medicine, dentist, or registered nurse practitioner provides cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, or both, and that is:

a.         An outpatient treatment center, as defined in A.A.C. R9-10-101,

b.        An outpatient surgical center, as defined in A.A.C.

R9-10-101, or

c.         An outpatient radiation treatment center.

16.     “Clinical evaluation” means an examination of the body of an individual for the presence of disease or injury to the body, and review of any laboratory test results for the individual by a physician, doctor of naturopathic medi- cine, dentist, or registered nurse practitioner.

17.     “Clinical or pathological” means an analysis of evidence either acquired solely before a first course of treatment was initiated, or acquired both before a first course of treatment, and supplemented or modified by evidence acquired during and subsequent to surgery.

18.     “Code” means a single number or letter, a set of numbers or letters, or a set of both numbers and letters, that repre- sents specific information.

19.     “Cytology” means the microscopic examination of cells.

20.     “Date of first contact” means the day, month, and year a reporting facility first began to provide cancer-related medical services, nursing services, or health-related ser- vices, as defined in A.R.S. § 36-401, to a patient.

21.     “Date of last contact” means the day, month, and year that a reporting facility last knew a patient to be alive.

22.     “Designee” means a person assigned by the governing authority of a hospital or clinic or by an individual acting on behalf of the governing authority to gather information for or report to the Department, as specified in R9-4-403 or R9-4-404.

23.     “Discharge” means the same as in A.A.C. R9-10-201.

24.     “Discharge date” means the month, day, and year when a patient is discharged from a hospital.

25.     “Disease progression” means the process of a disease becoming more severe or spreading from one area of a human body to another area of the human body.

26.     “Distant lymph node” means a lymph node that is not in the same general area of a human body as the primary site of a tumor.

27.     “Distant site” means an area of a human body that is not adjacent to or in the same general area of the human body as the primary site of a tumor.

28.     “Doctor of naturopathic medicine” means an individual licensed under A.R.S. Title 32, Chapter 14.

29.     “Electronic” means the same as in A.R.S. § 44-7002.

30.     “First course of treatment” means the initial set of cancer- or non-cancer-directed treatment that is planned when a cancer is diagnosed and administered to the patient before disease progression or recurrence.

31.     “Follow-up report” means an electronic document that includes the information stated in R9-4-404(A)(2) for a patient.

32.     “Governing authority” means the same as in A.R.S. § 36- 401.

33.     “Grade” means the degree of resemblance of a tumor to normal tissue, and gives an indication of the severity of the cancer.

34.     “Health care institution” means the same as in A.A.C. R9-10-101.

35.     “Histology” means the microscopic structure of cells, tis- sues, and organs in relation to their function.

36.     “Inpatient beds” means the same as in A.R.S. § 36-401.

37.     “Laterality” means the side of a paired organ or the side of the body  in which  the  primary site  of  a  tumor  is located.

38.     “Licensed capacity” means the same as in A.R.S. § 36- 401.

39.     “Lymph” means the clear, watery, sometimes faintly yel- lowish fluid that circulates throughout the lymphatic sys- tem.

40.     “Lymph node” means any of the small bodies located along lymphatic vessels, particularly at the neck, armpit, and groin, that filter bacteria and foreign particles from lymph.

41.     “Lymphatic system” means the organ system that consists of lymph, lymph nodes, and vessels or channels that con- tain and convey lymph throughout a human body.

42.     “Malignant” means an inherent tendency of a tumor to sequentially spread to areas of a human body beyond the site of origin.

43.     “Medical record number” means a unique number assigned by a hospital, clinic, physician, doctor of naturo- pathic medicine, dentist, or registered nurse practitioner to an individual for identification purposes.

44.     “Melanocyte” means a skin cell that makes melanin, which is a dark pigment.

45.     “Melanoma” means a dark-pigmented, malignant tumor arising from a melanocyte and occurring most commonly in the skin.

46.     “Metastasis” means the spread of a cancer from a primary site into a regional site or a distant site.

47.     “Narrative description” means a written text describing an act, occurrence, or course of events.

48.     “Organ” means a somewhat independent part of a human body, such as a heart or a kidney, that performs a specific function.

49.     “Organ system” means one or more organs and associ- ated tissues that perform a specific function, such as the circulatory system.

50.     “Outpatient radiation treatment center” means a facility in which a person, licensed as specified in 12 A.A.C. 1, Article 7, provides radiation treatment.

51.     “Papillary tumor” means a benign tumor of the skin pro- ducing finger-like projections from the skin surface.

52.     “Pathology laboratory” means a facility in which human cells or tissues are examined for the purpose of diagnos- ing cancer and that is licensed under 9 A.A.C. 10,

Article 1.

53.     “Patient” means an individual who has been diagnosed with a cancer, carcinoma in situ, or benign tumor of the central nervous system, including melanoma, but exclud- ing skin cancer that is:

a.         Confined to the primary site; or

b.        Present at regional sites or distant sites, but was diagnosed on or after January 1, 2003.

54.     “Primary site” means a specific organ or organ system within a human body where the first cancer tumor origi- nated.

55.     “Principal diagnosis” means the primary condition for which an individual is admitted to a hospital or treated by the hospital.

56.     “Radiation treatment” means the exposure of a human body to a stream of particles or electromagnetic waves for the purpose of selectively destroying certain cells or tis- sues.

57.     “Reconstructive surgery” means a medical procedure that involves cutting into a body tissue or organ with instru- ments to repair damage or restore function to, or improve the shape and appearance of a body structure that is miss- ing, defective, damaged, or misshapen by cancer or can- cer-directed therapies.

58.     “Recurrence” means the reappearance of a tumor after previous removal or treatment of the tumor, after a period in which the patient was believed to be free of cancer.

59.     “Reference date” means the date on which the hospital’s cancer registry began reporting patient information to the Department.

60.     “Regional lymph node” means a lymph node that is in the same general area of a human body as the primary site of a tumor.

61.     “Regional site” means an area of a human body that is adjacent to or in the same general area of the human body as the primary site of a tumor.

62.     “Registered nurse practitioner” means an individual who meets the definition of registered nurse practitioner in

A.R.S. § 32-1601, and is licensed under A.R.S. Title 32, Chapter 15.

63.     “Rehabilitation services” means the same as in A.A.C. R9-10-201.

64.     “Release” means to transfer care of a patient from a hos- pital to a physician, a doctor of naturopathic medicine, a registered nurse practitioner, an outpatient treatment cen- ter, another hospital, the patient, the patient’s parent if the patient is under 18 years of age and unmarried, or the patient’s legal guardian.

65.     “Reporting facility” means a hospital, clinic, physician, doctor of naturopathic medicine, dentist, or registered nurse practitioner that submits a case report to the Depart- ment.

66.     “Secondary diagnosis” means all other diagnoses of an individual made after the principal diagnosis.

67.     “Sequence number” means a unique number assigned by a cancer registry to a specific cancer within the body of a patient.

68.     “Skin cancer” means cancer of any of the following types:

a.         Papillary tumor;

b.        Squamous cell;

c.         Basal cell; or

d.        Other carcinoma of the skin, where a specific diag- nosis has not been determined.

69.     “Special hospital” means the same as in A.A.C. R9-10- 201.

70.     “Squamous cell” means a flat, scale-like skin cell.

71.     “Stage group” means a scheme for categorizing a patient, based on the staging classification of the patient’s cancer, to enable a physician, doctor of naturopathic medicine, or registered nurse practitioner to provide better treatment and outcome information to the patient.

72.     “Staging classification” means the categorizing of a can- cer according to the size and spread of a tumor from its primary site, based on an analysis of three basic compo- nents:

a.         The tumor at the primary site,

b.        Regional lymph nodes, and

c.         Metastasis.

73.     “Subsite” means a specific area within a primary site where a cancer tumor originated.

74.     “Substantiate stage” means a narrative describing the stage group of a cancer at the time of diagnosis.

75.     “Treatment” means the administration to a patient of medical services, nursing services, or health-related ser- vices, as defined in A.R.S. § 36-401, that are intended to relieve illness or injury.

76.     “Tumor” means an abnormal growth of tissue resulting from uncontrolled multiplication of cells and serving no physiological function.

77.     “Usual industry” means the primary type of activity car- ried out by the business where a patient was employed for the most number of years of the patient’s working life before the diagnosis of cancer.

78.     “Usual occupation” means the kind of work performed during the most number of years of a patient’s working life before the diagnosis of cancer.

79.     “Working life” means that portion of a patient’s life dur- ing which the patient was employed for a salary or wages.

Historical Note

Adopted effective January 1, 1992, filed September 25, 1991 (Supp. 91-3). Section repealed; new Section made by final rulemaking at 12 A.A.R. 179, effective March 11, 2006 (Supp. 06-1). Amended by final rulemaking at

3708, effective November 11, 2006 (Supp. 06-3).