August 2022 Newsletter

As a testimony to our emphasis on continuous improvement, ERS is excited to announce the launch of our new Client Portal which is scheduled to go live on Friday, Sept. 2!

The new portal is designed to make ticket submission quick and easy, and to help provide the information needed to make sure your ticket gets assigned to the appropriate staff as quickly as possible. And for those of you who work for multiple facilities, you will now be able to submit a support ticket for any of your facilities using just one email address!

Instructions will be sent to clients about how to access and use the portal the week prior to the “go live” date so look for an email the last week of August.

Also, when the new Client Portal goes live on Sept. 2, the CRStar Resource Page (containing E-News, Enhancements, Videos and more) will be accessible from within the CRStar Cancer Registry System. You will no longer need to login to the CRStar Helpdesk to access the multiple resources.

Our Cancer Center Showcase series continues with Ascension Providence Medical Center located in Mobile, AL. Ascension Providence is one of 157 hospitals in the Ascension Health network, which spans over 91 cities in 12 states.

The Ascension Providence cancer registry dates to 1987. The Cancer Center has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC) since 1990. The registry is led by Toni Terry, HIT, CTR, Regulatory Specialist. There are two fulltime CTR’s in the registry, as well as one part-time contracted CTR who performs follow-up. The registry accessions almost 700 analytic cases annually. All staff work from home, although one registrar attends weekly tumor conferences.

Ascension Providence holds one multi-disciplinary tumor conference each week where the cancer registry is responsible for …

The concepts of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have appropriately become important goals for healthcare enterprises, corporate entities, professional organizations and academic institutions. It is important that these concepts are also being emphasized in professional schools, especially medical schools, where the future generations of physicians are being trained. Twenty-four medical schools throughout the nation will revamp their education curricula, creating programs incorporating DEI into training.

A second important outgrowth of the DEI movement is the incorporation of these concepts into healthcare outcomes that affect all patients and especially cancer patients. This awareness has resulted from the appropriate use of patient data found especially in our cancer registries and the work product of each of our dedicated cancer registrars.

One important goal for all who work in the registry is to educate all of our colleagues as to the power of registry data in uncovering DEI-related shortcomings in cancer management. This is also a wonderful opportunity for cancer registrars to play a leading role in developing research projects that will highlight DEI needs for improving cancer care.

Finally, we must review our coding strategies and our abstract data to assure that all relevant information regarding demographics are included. As newer generations of physicians are being trained in the principles of reducing healthcare disparities related to DEI, the need to introduce the neophyte clinician to the cancer registry is more critical than ever.

Cancer registry data is essential for community outreach initiatives. The needs of communities vary across demographics, but the four key components of a successful community outreach campaign remain the same. Those components are to Identify, Engage, Implement and Educate.

When identifying the population to target. There are several key questions to ask:

• Who are the at-risk populations?
• Are there environmental considerations?
• Which populations are affected by socioeconomic concerns?

Disparities in both rural and urban communities should be identified, as each have their own areas of concern. Identifying minority populations that may be medically underserved is also key.

Most of this data is collected in the cancer registry and can be vital in helping the cancer center analyze the needs of the communities. Once the data has been identified, the cancer center can engage with partners throughout the community. Churches, health clinics, veterans’ groups, schools and other groups all have a stake in community wellness. These partners can assist with advocacy within the communities served. Cancer takes a devastating toll on so many different populations that understanding which partners to engage with can play a major role in reducing incidence and mortality by implementing screening, early detection, prevention, and educational services.

Above is an example of a report identifying lung cases by stage at diagnosis by gender that can be generated using cancer registry data. The graph reveals that male and female patients seem to be relatively consistent by stage until stage IV, where considerably more males are diagnosed. Armed with this information your cancer center can examine which outreach activities can best help the community you serve.

As cancer registrars are very valuable members of the oncology program, we should promote the value of the data we collect. Shown are just a few examples of reports that can easily be generated in CRStar to provide valuable insight for your cancer program’s financial and strategic analysis.

The latest episode of the Cancer Registry World podcast featuring guest William Laffey, MBA, Retired Cancer Administrator and Commission on Cancer site visitor is available now! Bill joins Dr. Frederick L. Greene, CMO, to discuss the role of administration in assuring that support for cancer registrars and cancer registry activities is paramount at all institutions caring for cancer patients. He also reviews the important types of data that cancer registries provide to the administration of cancer programs.

Previous episodes with guests Rohit Nayak, CEO of ERS, Mellisa Wheeler, Director of Community Outreach at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, Lillie D. Shockney, Co-Founder of AONN+, and NCRA President, Karen Mason, are still available on our website or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, including ApplePodcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and TuneIn.

Is your state looking for speakers for it's fall conference? State cancer registry associations are in the planning stages of fall educational conferences and we would love to help!

Choose from topics including Edit Enlightenment: Conquering GenEdits and Metafiles, 100 Years of the Commission on Cancer: Implications for Cancer Registrars and Registries, and Automated Data Exchange: Approaches to Revitalize your Cancer Registry. Or our speakers can customize a topic just for your organization, such as cancer site specific topics. Our speakers can present virtually or in person at your conference, meeting, educational session and more!

Here are some upcoming state meetings where our speakers will be presenting:

• ANCCR (North Carolina) - Melanie Rogan, Todd Carter & Jon Patrick
• ACRA (Alabama) - Rick Greene & Jonathan Rakestraw
• TODAA (Tennessee) - Melanie Rogan
• MiCRA (Michigan) - Rick Greene & Melanie Rogan

Do you love CRStar?

So do we and we are offering our loyal customers the chance to earn a $200 gift card when a Cancer Program that you refer becomes an ERS customer!

Please click "Refer CRStar" below if you know of any Cancer Programs that could benefit from CRStar and the advantages that CRStar users enjoy and rely on.

Let's grow our CRStar community together!

Terms and conditions can be found on the CRStar Referral Form.

View a CRStar video

Read user stories

Visit our website

ERS, Inc. | www.mycrstar.com