Precision at Scale: Aptive Brings Order to VA’s National Cancer Registry
Precision at Scale: Aptive Brings Order to VA’s National Cancer Registry
How Aptive supports the Veterans Health Administration in clearing a critical data backlog, sustaining real-time reporting and standing up an enterprise-wide cancer registry system
For a Veteran diagnosed with cancer, a missing abstraction is not a data gap. It is a delay in treatment decisions, a gap in research that could benefit the next patient and a failure to honor a promise the VA made. The Veterans Health Administration’s National Oncology Program Office (NOPO) maintains the VA Central Cancer Registry, i.e., the backbone of cancer surveillance, treatment policy and research across the nation’s largest integrated health system. Keeping it accurate and current is, in the most direct sense, patient care.
In 2025, VHA awarded Aptive the National Cancer Registry Services contract, a five-year effort under the VHA Integrated Healthcare Transformation indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract. The mandate was clear and the stakes were high.
Challenge
A 35,000-case backlog, a national staffing shortage and a new system, all demanding attention at once
The VA Central Cancer Registry was carrying more than 35,000 unabstracted cancer cases spanning diagnosis years 2018 through 2024, while 92 VA medical centers continued generating more than 60,000 new cases each year. Alongside abstraction, the scope included executing approximately 60,000 casefinding units and 95,000 annual disease follow-ups, putting the total registry actions required in the Base Year alone above 250,000. At the same time, VHA was rolling out a new enterprise-wide Cancer Registry System that required coordinated governance, data migration and change management, without pausing daily operations for a single day.
A national shortage of Certified Tumor Registrars made the traditional response (i.e., hire more staff) simply not viable. What NOPO needed was a partner that already understood VA’s systems, compliance environment and multi-VISN complexity at scale. General health information management vendors weren’t equipped for it. Aptive was.
Solutions
A credentialed team built for VA complexity and for the work that matters
Aptive brought together a multi-partner delivery team covering the full range of cancer registry services. The team integrated credentialed Oncology Data Specialists (ODS-C), standardized workflows and continuous performance monitoring to produce consistent, audit-ready outcomes across all assigned VISNs and VA medical centers.
For the ODS-Cs on this team, the work is as substantive as it gets: casefinding through surveillance across CPRS, VistA and pathology records; structured abstraction with complete NAACCR datasets; annual disease follow-up; National Cancer Database submissions; and monthly incidence verification reporting to NOPO. Every case touches a Veteran’s record directly. Operations comply with Commission on Cancer, NAACCR, SEER, AJCC and CDC/NPCR standards, with VA-specific workflows built into every step.
Backlog Resolution
Clearing 35,000-plus cases is not just a staffing challenge. It’s a program management challenge. Aptive’s metrics-driven clearance model gives NOPO continuous visibility, including regular reporting on completion rates and projected timelines, with surge capacity that absorbs volume spikes without pulling the team away from the daily abstraction work that keeps current reporting on track.
Enterprise Quality Assurance
When data drives oncology care decisions, accuracy isn’t negotiable. Aptive’s quality framework layers direct observation, random case sampling, automated edit checks and closed-loop corrective actions to maintain inter-rater reliability and audit traceability across every VISN. Quality findings feed calibration sessions and SOPs that stay current with evolving national standards. For credentialed staff, it means working in a program that takes quality as seriously as they do.
Real-time Performance Monitoring
Role-based dashboards and automated alerts give every level of the program (e.g., registrar, site, VISN and enterprise) a clear picture of throughput, timeliness and edit pass rates. Early-warning notifications flag trends before they become quality issues. Monthly NOPO Progress Reports roll up results across all 92 facilities.
Workforce and Credential Management
All staff hold active credentials and operate within VA-approved secure environments under VA Handbook 6500 requirements for remote work involving protected health information. Credential records are maintained, regularly verified and available to the Contracting Officer’s Representative on a defined reporting schedule.
Results
Accurate data. Better care. A program Veterans can count on.
The National Cancer Registry Services contract gives VHA a credentialed, accountable partner to restore and sustain the data quality that oncology care depends on. Through rigorous program management and standards-driven execution, Aptive delivers:
- Ongoing backlog clearance targeting all 35,000-plus unabstracted cases spanning diagnosis years 2018 through 2024, as part of more than 250,000 total registry actions in the Base Year spanning abstraction, casefinding and disease follow-up
- Sustained abstraction accuracy at or above the 90% threshold, with edit failure rates at or below 5% across all assigned sites
- Monthly incidence verification files and NOPO Progress Reports that are fully audit-ready
- Surge readiness enabling rapid response to volume spikes without disrupting daily operations or real-time reporting
- Enterprise-wide compliance with CoC, NAACCR, SEER and VA-specific registry standards across all 92 VA medical centers
- Coordinated governance support and change management expertise to sustain data integrity throughout the transition to a new enterprise-wide Cancer Registry System
Join Our Team
Are you a credentialed Oncology Data Specialist?
There are not many roles where your abstraction work directly shapes the care a Veteran receives. This is one of them. Aptive is hiring credentialed Oncology Data Specialists and Certified Tumor Registrars to support our national VA cancer registry program, a five-year commitment to the highest standards of data quality, professional rigor and mission-driven purpose.
If you want work that is technically serious and genuinely meaningful, we want to hear from you.