SEER-Medicare: Requirements of Investigators Following Receipt of the Data

Investigators who have received the SEER-Medicare data must abide by the policies established by NCI and the SEER program. These include the following:

• Researchers must send all manuscripts, before their release, to the SEER-Medicare contact for final approval. (Please indicate the approved project title when submitting.) This review is to ensure the confidentiality of patients and providers in SEER areas and is not intended for the purpose of scientific review.
• NCI would appreciate the inclusion of the following acknowledgment in any publication or presentations using SEER-Medicare linked data:

"This study used the linked SEER-Medicare database. The interpretation and reporting of these data are the sole responsibility of the authors. The authors acknowledge the efforts of the Applied Research Program, NCI; the Office of Research, Development and Information, CMS; Information Management Services (IMS), Inc.; and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program tumor registries in the creation of the SEER-Medicare database."

• If investigators want to use the data they have received for another project, they must submit a new proposal and complete a new SEER-Medicare Data Use Agreement.
• Investigators may not provide raw SEER-Medicare data to any other individuals without written permission from NCI. Colleagues employed by other organizations, including independent contractors, collaborating on a project using these data must submit a SEER-Medicare Data Use Agreement as a co-custodian.
• Investigators may not link variables from the SEER-Medicare files to files other than SEER-Medicare without the written consent from the applicable SEER registries.
• Investigators may not publish or present findings in which the number of cases in a cell, by registry, is less than five. This policy is to eliminate the potential for re-identification of persons with cancer.