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SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 02/07/2026 12:54 AM
Question 20200011
Inquiry Details
References:
2018 SEER Manual, 61-65
Question:
Race: How should race information from linkages be incorporated into the coding of Race? See Discussion.
Discussion:
Race information is provided in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) linkage results. Oftentimes it matches what is coded in the database, but other times it does not.
In situations where the CMS (or other) linkage provides a race value that differs from the coded Patient set, are we to ignore the CMS stated race given the SEER Manual instructions indicating self-reported race has priority or should we add the different Race values from linkages as an additional race (ex. Race 02)?
Answer:
Use self-reported race as the priority when information on race is available. Use the associated text field to document why a particular race code was chosen when there are discrepancies in race information. Generally, race information is used from linkages when race data is missing or unknown, or to enhance data.
We will add clarification on linkages in the next SEER Manual update.
