SEER-Medicare: Proposal Requirements

Proposals for projects involving the use of SEER-Medicare files should include:

• Statement of problem.
• Description of the main hypotheses/research question.
• Discussion of study subjects and cancer sites/phases included in the analysis.
• Brief description of key variables and analytic methods to be used.
• If applicable, justification for the receipt of restricted variables and detailed description of their use in the analysis.
• List of specific SEER-Medicare data files and years of data required.
• Explanation of how the data will be stored and protected from unauthorized access.
• Assurances that no attempt will be made to identify patients or providers.
• Assurances that publications and presentations of the data will not allow identification of patients or providers.
• Description of the personnel involved, timeline for completion, and relevant experience of the study team.
• If your organization is a consulting firm, contractor, or pharmaceutical company, then your proposal must include information about the funding source and a letter from the funder indicating that you are free to work and publish your findings without limitations by the funder.

No charts, budgets, or detailed staffing plans are necessary. Proposals should be no longer than 10 pages. A copy of a grant or contract proposal submitted to NIH, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or another institution can be used for the purpose of requesting SEER-Medicare data. Please note that investigators may not request the entire data set. In addition, the SEER-Medicare data may not be linked with individually identified records in another database without the written consent from the applicable SEER registries.