Dashboards are effective tools to communicate data, but they can also be misleading or confusing if the wrong metrics are used. So, how do you choose the right metrics or indicators?
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]]>Dashboards are effective tools to communicate data, but they can also be misleading or confusing if the wrong metrics are used. So, how do you choose the right metrics or indicators?
Here is a short article with 6 steps to help you get started. Click HERE.
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]]>The 49th Annual Educational Conference hosted by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) will be held May 7-10, 2023 in San Diego at the Town and Country Resort.
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]]>The 49th Annual Educational Conference hosted by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) will be held May 7-10, 2023 in San Diego at the Town and Country Resort. This year’s event will be a hybrid venue, i.e., live attendance with access to live streaming and on-demand sessions after the conference. Virtual attendees will be able to attend the live sessions and present questions online during the Q&A.
The conference will feature important cancer registry topics focusing on current issues and trends in the cancer registry profession. Registrars can earn up to 20+ continuing education (CE) credits to use in maintaining their credentials.
Why should you attend?
Click on any of the links below to access conference registration, hotel and session information:
Come “Sailing Towards New Horizons” with your friends and cancer registry professional association in May. Looking forward to seeing you in San Diego!
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]]>How did you find your calling in life? Florence Nightingale knew at a very young age she was being called as a nurse. Her family was not supportive and felt it to be beneath her
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]]>How did you find your calling in life? Florence Nightingale knew at a very young age she was being called as a nurse. Her family was not supportive and felt it to be beneath her station in life as a debutante in a wealthy and privileged society. She volunteered to work in a hospital to explore her dream. But her family bullied and punished her every step of the way. Struggling to make the most important decision of her life, she wrote to Dr. Samuel G. Howe asking for advice. He responded by saying, “…if you have a vocation for that way of life, act up to your inspiration and you will find there is never anything unbecoming or unladylike in doing your duty for the good of others. Choose, go on with it, wherever it may lead you.”
#CTR #cancerregistry #cancerregistrar #cancer #purpose #inspiration
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]]>There are over 300 different types of cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has made available a comprehensive resource with descriptions of these types.
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]]>There are over 300 different types of cancer. A cancer registrar is specially trained in how to correctly gather the data from the medical record and to code and classify it for research and strategic planning. From time to time they will come across a type of cancer they may not be as familiar with as compared to cancers like lung, colon, prostate, breast, etc. Having a resource like this one published by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is very helpful.
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]]>The American College of Surgeons (ACoS) presented several sessions at the National Cancer Registrar's Association (NCRA) annual educational conference held on June 3-5, 2021. In response to the participant questions asked at each of these sessions, the ACoS has released a PDF with a written response to all the questions they received.
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]]>The American College of Surgeons (ACoS) presented several sessions at the National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) annual educational conference held on June 3-5, 2021. In response to the participant questions asked at each of these sessions, the ACoS has released a PDF with a written response to all the questions they received. You can view this document below.
Note: if you cannot see the PDF document, copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://www.facs.org/-/media/files/quality-programs/cancer/ncra_meeting_qa.ashx.
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]]>Cancer staging is a fairly complex task and has many components and variables that cancer registrars must take into account. Let's have some fun and test your knowledge about staging.
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]]>Cancer staging is a fairly complex task and has many components and variables that cancer registrars must take into account. Let’s have some fun and test your knowledge about staging. To see survey results, scroll to the bottom of the post and click on “Statistics – View the Results” tab.
Please answer three questions in the short quiz below.
[perfect_survey id=”1325″]
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]]>Cancer Registrars collect and analyze data to tell a story about the latest trends in their facility, region, state or nationally. Understanding how the statistics are derived and calculated, especially if you are going to compare your hospital with another program, state or national benchmark is very important.
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]]>Cancer Registrars collect and analyze data to tell a story about the latest trends in their facility, region, state or nationally. Understanding how the statistics are derived and calculated, especially if you are going to compare your hospital with another program, state or national benchmark is very important.
SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) has made available a series of online videos called Did You Know? The video’s highlight key topics and trends and are helpful in understanding cancer-related statistics.
Here is one of these videos, titled “Cancer Statistics.”
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]]>When is chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in remission? What does it mean when the medical record states the CLL patient has a complete or partial remission? All great questions often heard around the table when cancer registrars get together. This article briefly describes the types of remission and the laboratory studies and tests used to determine its status.
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]]>When is chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in remission? What does it mean when the medical record states the CLL patient has a complete or partial remission? All great questions often heard around the table when cancer registrars get together.
CLL is the most common type of leukemia in the United States in American adults. Over 175,000 men and women are currently living with CLL, and many of them with a good quality of life. While a cure is not yet available there are a wide-range of effective treatments available today. For patients with slow-growing disease or who are in clinical remission, they may not even require active therapy. Of course, Cancer Registrars will be looking for all of this information and coding it appropriately in the case abstract.
Standard treatment for CLL is chemotherapy and radiation. However, newer treatments are being tested and made available to patients to help them achieve partial and complete remission for longer and longer periods of time. Newer therapies include:
There are two types CLL remission which we will describe below:
Laboratory tests are an important part of the medical record that the Cancer Registrar must review. For CLL you should look at the following:
CLL can be in remission for many years, but there is always a chance it could come back. It is not uncommon for a physician to recommend a “watch and wait” form of long-term surveillance. This is why it is so important for the Cancer Registrar to understand the disease process and to gather accurate and complete follow-up and cancer status information throughout the patient’s lifetime.
Cancer Registrar’s should consult the SEER hematologic coding and abstracting resources to determine other steps or actions taken during the case abstraction process, whether they are in a SEER-designated State or not.
Disclaimer – this article is not used to determine coding or abstracting standrds! Rather it is an informational guide to help the Registrar understand what they may find in the medical record. For coding or abstracting standards please refer to your apppropriate manuals.
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]]>The National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) launched a new information series, titled “NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series” in April 2021. As the industry leader in cancer registry salary and workforce […]
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]]>The National Cancer Registrar’s Association (NCRA) launched a new information series, titled “NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series” in April 2021. As the industry leader in cancer registry salary and workforce research, NCRA has teamed up with partner organizations to identify the needs, launch initiatives and coordinate studies that will promote outcomes. Much of this work has been designed to share national workload and time management data relevant for hospital- and central cancer registry based Registrars.
The NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series is the first of a series NCRA plans to release that will organize and deliver a structured set of information on a variety of cancer registry workforce procedures, management and activities to guide cancer registry operations and staffing needs.
The first resource to be launched in this series, titled “Why Your Staff are Your Top Resource When Considering Outsourcing Services in Support of the Cancer Registry” was released in April, 2021. Additional resources will be released as they become available.
To download the NCRA Best Practice Guidance Series: Why Your Staff Are Your Top Resource When Considering Outsourcing Services in Support of the Cancer Registry, click here to be redirected to the NCRA webpage.
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]]>The cancer registry network is a powerful resource in oncology healthcare. The connections and relationships with members of the cancer care team are a valuable source of knowledge and provide many opportunities for resource-sharing and growth.
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]]>“The cancer registry network is a powerful resource in oncology healthcare. The connections and relationships with members of the cancer care team are a valuable source of knowledge and provide many opportunities for resource-sharing and growth. The cancer registry should never be maintained solely for the purpose of meeting minimum reporting requirements. Instead, it should be a vital part of the facility’s cancer delivery system and be in alignment with the strategic plan and mission.”
To read the rest of this article click here to be redirected to the MRA website. There is free bonus material available too!
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