In this newsletter, you will find: |
- About You! Putting the Spotlight on CTRs: Tricia Obrecht, CTR
- "Get in the Registry Zone" Webinar Reminder!
- Clinical Corner by Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS, CMO
- Are You "In the Know"? - CRStar Security
- Net Promoter Score Ranks ERS as World Class in Customer Satisfaction!
- Tip of the Month: Survivorship Care Plans
- August Employee Spotlight - Bonnie Nelson
- Refer CRStar - Earn $200
|
|
|
|
About You! Putting the Spotlight on CTRs
Tricia Obrecht, CTR
|
The next well-deserving CTR highlighted by our About You! Series is Tricia Obrecht, a CTR for two Mercyhealth hospitals, one in Janesville, WI, and one in Rockford, IL! Tricia came highly recommended by a colleague and loves to share her years of knowledge. Her interview is posted on Facebook.
Reminder: The featured individual with the greatest number of “likes” on Facebook will receive a prize at the end of the year! If you're not already following us on Facebook, please make sure to click "Like" our page while you're there!
Please take this opportunity to engage and highlight a community that often doesn’t get recognized – and have some fun while doing it.
If you know of a CTR who deserves recognition or if you are a Cancer Center leader who would like to give a shout out to an outstanding CTR, please reach out and let us know. Upon getting permission with the CTR’s leadership, Sally Kruse, CTR, a legend in her own right, will follow up with a wide-ranging interview and a summary article representing her discussion.
|
|
|
|
"Get in the Registry Zone" Webinar Reminder |
|
Invitations will be sent to CRStar clients beginning next week for the next installment in our Cancer Registry Educational Webinar Series! "Get in the Registry Zone" will be presented by Christi Cox, CTR, Manager of Education, at noon ET on Tuesday, August 24th and Thursday, August 26th.
This educational webinar will include topics ranging from adequate staffing, delegation of tasks and productivity expectations to managing suspense, incomplete and follow up lists. Additionally, strategies for managing RCRS cases, effective QA reviews and achieving a concurrent database will also be explored.
Be on the lookout for your invite on August 10th! One CE credit is pending from NCRA.
|
|
|
|
Clinical Corner
Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS, CMO
|
My reverence for cancer registrars and appreciation for the role of cancer registries began well before I assumed the role as Chief Medical Officer for ERS three months ago, well before I began my involvement with the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual 25 years ago, well before I began my association with the Commission on Cancer 35 years ago. My infatuation with all aspects of cancer registries and the dedicated professionals who oversee them began when I was a medical student and a neophyte surgeon in training.
One of the first journal articles that I ever published used registry data to review the advances made in the treatment of Wilm’s Tumor in the pediatric population. This was in 1969! I was also fortunate to work with cancer registrars and the Connecticut State Cancer Registry as a young surgical resident and American Cancer Society Fellow at Yale in 1972.
My point in relating this ancient history is that opportunities for young physicians to work with registrars and registries can lead to a lifelong understanding and appreciation for what you and your colleagues do on a daily basis. As I relate frequently to physician groups regarding cancer staging, the TNM system is our “language of cancer” and when do we learn a language the easiest? When we are young! Similarly, the time to acquaint physicians with cancer registries is during medical school, residency and fellowship experiences. This is a mission that has given me an immense amount of joy during my academic surgical career. This is a message that I have also attempted to relate to physician audiences over the years.
Although many clinicians dedicated to cancer care may not have had an opportunity for association with cancer registries early in their careers, all is not lost. At the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, we have developed a strategy of inviting clinicians to give a presentation at the monthly meetings of our entire registry staff. The purpose of this exercise, ostensibly, is to provide education for our registrars covering all disciplines of cancer care. The hidden agenda, however, is to educate these clinicians as to the information that is contained in the cancer abstract and the vast amount of important material that is available to them in their particular specialty. The overarching goal is that these individual physicians then become disciples and carry this information back to their particular specialty sections.
There are so many opportunities for physicians to become involved in registry activities at every level of their careers. Whether you and your registry are housed in an academic training institution or a community hospital, remember that it is never too late to introduce clinicians to the incredible world of the cancer registry. Remember that I am also here to help you in the process!
|
|
|
|
Are You "In the Know"?
CRStar Security
|
Given the increasing industry attention around data leaks, hacks and ransomware, we wanted to share some details around the security infrastructure for CRStar. While we don’t talk about it often, know that we are hard at work, continually working to improve and excel, while often exceeding regulatory and other mandated requirements.
Beyond all the technical detail below, know that most security leaks start with the simple acts of sharing passwords, open applications in an unsecure environment and of course, inadvertent responses to phishing emails that have become so commonplace these days. We can all help ourselves by being more aware of our surroundings and keeping an eye out for malicious spammers.
ERS adheres to the strictest of security practices and regulations required of all medical software solutions. We undergo a comprehensive third-party risk assessment annually in conjunction with ensuring the CRStar infrastructure is maintained with SOC 2 attestation, ISO_27001, HITRUST and associated HIPAA certifications. All data is encrypted – in motion and at rest. Data transmissions are are encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) with AES-256-bit encryption and Transport Layer Security (TLSv1.2).
|
|
|
|
Net Promoter Score Ranks ERS as
World Class in Customer Satisfaction!
|
In April, we asked you to share your thoughts with us to let us know how we were doing. ERS customers began receiving a survey via email when a support ticket had been resolved.
Thanks to your participation and positive feedback, we are proud to announce that our Net Promoter Score ranking for the last four months is 88 which, according to industry standards, is considered world class!
Our goal is to offer the best software, training, education and support services in the industry. Your feedback helps us ensure we are meeting that goal in order to offer our customers an overall great experience.
Thank you for your continued support!
|
|
|
|
Tip of the Month
Survivorship Care Plans
|
How is your cancer program meeting CoC Standard 4.8 and NAPBC Standard 2.20 for Survivorship? Is your registry department responsible for generating and monitoring Survivorship Care Plans (SCP)? This month’s tip of the month is focused on the built-in care plans available in CRStar.
Even if the registry is not responsible, access can be granted to another member of the oncology team, such as a patient navigator. This saves a tremendous amount of time for the person generating the plan, as 95% of the care plan is imported from the cancer registry abstract. The remainder of the fields can be filled out and modifications made in the editable form. The SCP can be easily generated on individual patients or on entire populations at once.
The available site-specific care plans are for Breast, Colorectal, Lung, Prostate and a generic form for all other sites. The SCP includes the following information:
- Patient demographics
- Primary tumor characteristics and diagnostic workup
- Patient care team information
- Family history and risk factors
- Treatment summary
- Possible health care concerns and side effects of treatment
- Follow up care scheduling and surveillance
|
|
|
|
And don’t forget the Cancer Program Maintenance screen contains to following fields for tracking and reporting on survivorship initiatives:
- SCP eligibility
- SCP generation status
- Date SCP Delivered to patient
- An automatic calculation of the days from diagnosis to dated SCP generated/delivered
The care plans are located under Print Forms or accessible from the CRStar shortcuts.
|
|
|
|
August Employee Spotlight - Bonnie Nelson |
This month, our employee spotlight shines on Bonnie Nelson, CTR. Bonnie will celebrate 20 years with ERS in April 2022. During this time, she has held several positions and is currently the Manager of Client Engagement and Implementation.
Bonnie enjoys working with the ERS team. She states, "The majority of the staff have a history of extraordinary longevity with the company and that lends credence to the exceptional group of professionals who work diligently to deliver an unrivaled product and customer support available in the industry today."
Bonnie's goal for each client is to leave them with a little more knowledge than they might have possessed prior to her interaction with them. She hopes to empower them with their own cancer registry initiatives and to ensure that they are aware how CRStar can help them achieve their cancer program goals.
Throughout the years, Bonnie has volunteered for committees with NCRA and her state association. Bonnie is currently the president of her state association, the Alabama Cancer Registrars Association. She has had the pleasure of serving as president of this association on three separate occasions.
Bonnie is married to Gavin and has three grown daughters, sons-in-law and one grandchild, Sophia, who is two-years-old and brings great joy to the entire family. As Bonnie proclaims "Oh, those hugs are the best!" Cancer has touched several members her family and this is what drives Bonnie to contribute to the cure of cancer in her professional career choice which has expanded to more than 32-years in the cancer registry field. Bonnie says, "Thank goodness for advancements in technology!" as she remembers paper abstracts, tickler files and filing cabinets lining the walls of an office and having to file each abstract,
In Bonnie's spare time, she loves to cook, read, write poems, hunt and work on projects around the house. Spending time with her family and seeing each of them happy in both their personal and professional lives is what gives her the most joy in life.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
ERS, Inc. | 1.800.824.9020 | www.mycrstar.com |
|
|
|
|
|
|
