January 2022 Newsletter
Ready, Set, Go ... Call for Data & v22 Changes
Webinar Announcement
Save the date for our upcoming educational webinar, Ready, Set, Go ... Call for Data & v22 Changes. This one hour webinar will be presented by our new Manager, Strategic Services, Amy Arnold, BA, CTR, at noon EST on Tuesday, Feb 15, 2022. An encore presentation will take place at noon EST on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022.

Invitations will be emailed to clients on Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. This webinar has been approved for 1 CEU by NCRA.
Preparing for 2022
Registry Database Best Practices
As registries close out the 2021 calendar year and prepare to begin a new year with many upcoming changes, we wanted to share some tips and best practices for getting your database ready for 2022!
  • Review user logins - The System administrator should review the user login settings and delete old users that may no longer work for the facility. Note: Do not delete their registrar initials.
  • Review User Security Settings - Review each user’s security settings for needed changes. (Client Admin, User or Read Only)
  • Review Password Policies and Settings - Check with the facility’s security officer to see if changes are needed for lockout settings, password requirements and patterns and if Two Factor Authentication is a requirement.
  • Review User Security Settings - Check each user’s security settings to ensure that screens or modules disabled are still applicable for 2022.
  • Initialize 2022 Accession Numbers - Facilities will need to initialize new accession numbers for 2022 for each facility in the database. Enter the hospital number followed by the year and the next accession number to use. For example, 01202200001. Note: If users have been manually entering 2022 accession numbers, run an Accession Registry to find the last number used.
  • Database Validation Reports - Run the Database Validation report to review possible duplicate cases. If duplicate cases are found, the Combine Case feature can be used to merge duplicates.
  • Color Coding - Review the color coding schemes to include new fields for 2022 and modify any existing fields.
  • Rapid Abstract - If the Rapid Abstract feature is utilized, review for inclusion or exclusion of new and existing fields.
  • Dashboard Settings - Review the dashboard settings for necessary changes to date ranges, facility configuration and user access.
  • GenEdit Settings - Ensure new edit metafiles have been set for each user. (State, NAACCR, NCDB and RCRS)
  • Import Review - Review any imports used for casefinding and follow-up for any needed changes to codes and filters.
  • Population and Report Label Cleanup - Review population and report labels in the Select a Population, Ad hoc List for a Pop and Cross Tab reports and delete labels no longer used.

Following these tips and best practices every year will aid in maintaining your database. If assistance is needed with any of these items, please submit a support ticket and a member of our team will be happy to assist!
A Tribute to Sally Kruse, CTR
by Melanie Rogan, CTR
Director, Growth & Strategic Services
The entire staff of ERS would like to pay tribute to one special lady! Sally Kruse, CTR, officially retired from ERS on December 29, 2021. Sally had retired from her full time position in April of 2016 and then nine short months later asked if she could come back part time, to which our team readily agreed!

Sally began her career with ERS in 1995. She talked the founder and CEO, Ashok Ramaswamy into hiring her since, as she put it, she was already selling the software for free to anyone who would listen. From there, Sally spread the word about this relatively new and small company and steadily contributed to its growth over the years. Sally has mentored many CTRs during her career, including myself! When I was hired in 1998, Sally immediately took me under her wing and readily shared her knowledge with me and quickly became not just my manager, but my lifelong friend.

Sally has held numerous volunteer positions with the Florida Cancer Registrars Association as well as the National Cancer Registrars Association, including president of both associations and multiple board of directors and committee positions. She was awarded the NCRA Volunteer Excellence Award in 2010 and the NCRA Distinguished Member Award in 2014. During the time Sally mentored me, she taught me not just about the ERS software and company procedures, but about Cancer Registry professionalism and the importance of giving back to the profession as a volunteer!
Cancer Center Showcase
Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, MI
As we announced in our December newsletter, beginning this month we will showcase the success story of one of our partner cancer centers. Each article will feature highlights of registry operations, cancer center initiatives and how ERS and CRStar are utilized to meet and achieve their registry and cancer center goals and business objectives.

The first health system to be showcased in our new Cancer Center Showcase series is the Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit, Michigan. HFHS is one of ERS’s newest partner health systems and they are celebrating a huge milestone! This now CoC Integrated Network was one of the first of two facilities accredited by the CoC. HFHS was first accredited in October of 1931 and is celebrating their 90th continuous year of accreditation.

The HFHS Cancer Registry is led by Lisa Landvogt, CTR, Director of Cancer Data and Accreditation. Lisa began her cancer registry career in 1990 at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, IL, now part of the UChicago Medicine Health System, receiving CTR certification in 1995. The HFHS cancer registry has 11 full-time employees, accession approximately 8,000 cases a year and are concurrent in their abstracting!

The registry staff was working from home before the pandemic; however, this situation encouraged a permanent remote work setting. Additionally, employees also have workstations on-site if the need ever arises for someone to work at the facility ....
Congratulations Janet Vogel, CTR!
About You Series Prize Recipient
Congratulations to Janet Vogel, CTR, who's story received the most likes on Facebook as part of our About You Series, a series of articles that highlighted several CTRs whose dedication and commitment to the registry profession inspires us all.

We thank all of our featured CTRs as well as all of you who took the time to read their stories and support the CTR community.

We look forward to continuing the series in 2022 with a new batch of well-deserving cancer registry professionals whose passion for their careers help to improve the care of countless cancer patients.

Janet - Be sure to watch your mailbox! Your prize is on it's way!
Care to be Aware!
Cyber Security Tips
We all have faced our own fair share of phishing emails - emails that want us to click on a link or respond to their content. One of the tricks in getting people to participate in the scam is to present a false dramatic situation.

One of the most common dramatic situations is the idea that something horrible is about to happen if you don’t take action. It could be that the email falsely states that your computer has been compromised or your bank account has been hacked. Another common dramatic situation is that you will miss out on a major perk if you don’t respond quickly.

This pressure of action is what scammers are hoping will force you to drop your common sense and click on something you normally would think twice about. Remember three words in any email engagement. Stop. Think. Verify. This practice will help your initial reaction be the right one.
Clinical Corner
Frederick L. Greene, MD, FACS, CMO
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote an editorial for the Annals of Surgical Oncology to challenge our clinicians and registry communities to create codes and other applications that would capture data relating to coronavirus infection in our cancer patients. I was delighted that our cancer registrars throughout the United States answered the challenge using codes created in STORE for NCDB submission, as well as other surveillance opportunities. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the data that you have generated will be vitally important in following this unique population of cancer patients infected by the virus.

Although collecting these two years of data collection is a start, the pandemic is far from over. While the Commission on Cancer and NCDB have not mandated collection of COVID-19 data for 2022, I would urge all to continue collecting this information at your local institutions. This is especially necessary to evaluate the mitigation effects of vaccination and boosters in our cancer populations, as well to assess the currently unknown consequences of the Omicron variant and future unknown varieties of the virus.

I salute all of our talented cancer registrars in playing such an extremely important role throughout this pandemic. I wish all of you and your loved ones a healthy, safe and productive 2022!
Refer CRStar - Earn $200
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
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