SunTimes – Fall 2016

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT Elizabeth Elrod, BS, RHIA, CTR

elizabethmarieelrod@gmail.com

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the FCRA membership for their support, and allowing me the privilege and honor of serving this year as President of our outstanding Florida State association. This is a position I could not have taken on without the assistance and encouragement from former presidents and other Board members.

As we all know, no achievement is ever accomplished alone – It takes a team! Let me thank my team of co-workers, my boss, and all that have volunteered to assist me in serving our great organization.

I would also like to give a special thanks to Walter Sanford and his Program Committee - Ana Ruiz, Pedro Diaz Pow Sang,

Mayra Espino – for the great job they did in planning our 2016 Annual FCRA Meeting in Boca Raton. It was also an honor to be able to serve as Secretary/ President-Elect for Walter this past year and present him with his appreciation award. Thankfully for all of us, Walter has agreed to continue the difficult task of Webmaster for this upcoming year, as well as serve as presidential advisor.

I also had the wonderful opportunity to present Sally Kruse with the 2016 Distinguished Member award. She has served FCRA for so many years with distinction, and it was a privilege to read the beautiful commemoration written by the Board members to honor her.

Looking ahead, we have an excellent Executive Committee for 2016-2017. The efforts taken to involve newer members seem to have really paid off, blending our experienced members with some new faces. I am fortunate to have such an enthusiastic and professional group of volunteers to keep our organization operating so smoothly. Our Program Co-Chairs Prudence Ashley, CTR, and Heather Burner, CTR, are already hard at work planning our 2017 Educational Meeting next July, negotiating with our hotel and recruiting our speakers for the program. Please check out their article in this edition for more details on our location in Orlando. Additionally, there is preliminary information on the FCRA website.

As always in this profession, we are seeing many changes in the cancer registry field. We are all experiencing the effects of the TNM staging changes, and soon the 8th Edition of the AJCC Manual will be available for the 2017 cases. More than ever, it’s important to keep an eye on the FCRA objectives and goals that have been in place since inception in 1976: Promote research and education in the Cancer Registry to offer greater services to the cancer patient. Raise the level of knowledge and performance of Cancer Registrars through continuing education. Disseminate information to members of the association regarding current activities, research and trends in the cancer field Initiate and or participate in programs to improve and standardize the compiling of Cancer Registry information. Assist in seeking solutions to mutual Registry problems.

Let’s all keep reaching out to each other to achieve these goals, especially the last one; collectively assisting one another to overcome the mutual problems that hinder our accomplishments as a group. Our organization cannot succeed without the participation and involvement of the membership as a whole, so please do not hesitate to contact me or any Board member if you’d like to volunteer, be a mentor, or to disseminate any material you feel could benefit us all – We are a TEAM!

FCRA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2016-2017 ELECTED OFFICERS

President

Elizabeth Elrod, BS, RHIA, CTR

President-Elect/Secretary Jennifer Sanky, CTR

Immediate Past President

Walter Sanford, CTR

Treasurer Dinah Merrill, CTR

Chairman Nominating Committee

Prudence Ashley, CTR

STANDING COMMITTEES

Membership Sally Kruse, CTR

Patricia Bentley, CTR

FCDS Liaison Joyce Allan, MPH, CTR

Bylaws

Mayra Espino, BA, RHIT, CTR

Historian Anne August, CTR

Education

Vonetta Williams, PhD,MPH, CTR

FCRA Education Foundation Liaison Jamie Suarez, RHIT, BS, CTR

Public Relations/Editor

Janet Vogel, CTR

Web Master Walter Sanford, CTR

Bobby Reynolds

Physician Liaison Pedro Heinz Diaz Pow Sang, MD, CTR

2016 Program Chairs Prudence Ashley, CTR

Heather Burner, BS, CTR

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TREASURER

Dinah Merrill, CTR

ONE WAY TO AVOID THE JUNE 30TH RUSH EVERY YEAR For a lot of long-time registrars this will not be new to them but I thought I would reintroduce it to any new

registrars who might be moving up or into positions of management in a registry. For several years in several different registries I would hear the cry “How are we ever going to get all our

cases abstracted by the June 30th deadline. Before that it was called the “6th month rule” which in CoC approved facilities they no longer have, but the State of Florida still require it folks so we are still bound by abstracting timeliness. Over the years I have been able to experiment with different methods for “keeping up with the abstracting” syndrome.

In our office, I applied what I call “Homemaker Engineering” to the problem. Let me explain homemaker engineering…the homemaker needs to peel the potatoes for supper, she needs to keep the small children busy and she has five minutes to get those potatoes on the stove. How will she make it all work? She will have one (or two) children count out the potatoes, another couple of children assigned to wash the potatoes and the mother peels them. If she has more children, then carrying potatoes and placing them in the pot become assigned tasks. So, if she has 10 potatoes the homemaker will need half a minute or 30 seconds for each potato in order to have them peeled and on the stove within five minutes. I am sure you can relate to learning to divide and conquer most tasks this way. So after discussion with my staff we applied this to the task of abstracting.

Let’s say we have 1200 cases to abstract in a year. (We should know an approximate number from the previous years’ data). This means you will have to abstract 100 cases each month to get through the year by June 30th. Right? Sounds good at this point, but what about tumor boards and oncology committees and studies and… and …endlessly and…?

So the engineer says… “What if you abstracted more than 100 cases each month and left a couple of months or more somewhere in the year for completion of studies, times of short staffing, etc. etc.” This we call the 5 MONTH RULE, the 4 MONTH RULE and the 3 MONTH RULE. This means if you want to stay within 3 months from the first date of contact (3 MONTH RULE) you must have all your January charts abstracted by the 1st day in May. By the first day in June would put you at the 4 MONTH RULE and by July 1st would put you in the 5 MONTH RULE. See the table below.

TO BE COMPLAINT WITH 5 MONTH RULE 4 MONTH RULE 3 MONTH RULE ABSTRACTING OF THIS MONTH MUST BE

COMPLETED BY 1ST OF THIS MONTH

COMPLETED BY 1ST OF THIS MONTH

COMPLETED BY 1ST OF THIS MONTH

JANUARY JULY JUNE MAY FEBRUARY AUGUST JULY JUNE MARCH SEPTEMBER AUGUST JULY APRIL OCTOBER SEPTEMBER AUGUST MAY NOVEMBER OCTOBER SEPTEMBER JUNE DECEMBER NOVEMBER OCTOBER JULY JANUARY (2017) DECEMBER NOVEMBER AUGUST FEBRUARY (2017 JANUARY (2017) DECEMBER SEPTEMBER MARCH (2017) FEBRUARY (2017 JANUARY (2017) OCTOBER ARRIL (2017) MARCH (2017) FEBRUARY (2017 NOVEMBER MAY (2017) APRIL (2017) MARCH (2017) DECEMBER JUNE (2017) MAY (2017) APRIL (2017)

If we do get behind, then one abstractor can work on the “past due” while the other stays on track within the

3-month rule. Each month begins with checking how many are in suspense and approximately how many charts each abstractor needs to abstract within the coming month to stay within the 3 or 4-month rule. Having the visual table and monthly suspense check helps uncover problems and continues to keep us moving forward as a team.

I hope this is something that you can modify and adapt in your registries and that it has been of use to you, so that you do not dread that “June” pressure point that rolls around every 12 months. Happy abstracting!

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2016 Program Co-Chairs

Prudence Ashley, CTR & Heather Burner, CTR A Magical Year: Imagine the Possibilities! SAVE THE DATE!

We look forward to seeing you at the 39th Florida Cancer Registrars Association Annual Educational Conference July 24-25, 2017 at the amazing Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort at Bonnet Creek! Join us in networking with your peers while learning about the most current topics of our profession. If there is a topic you would like presented at the conference, feel free to contact one of the program chairs listed above. And definitely consider staying a few extra days and bringing the family to enjoy the many exciting amenities located just minutes from the venue – many within walking distance or via shuttle service! What will it be: theme parks, golf, a spa treatment, outlet shopping?

Hotel amenities include: Surrounded by 500 stunning woodland acres and a 10-acre lake 400 guest rooms Guests are able to access several amazing amenities:

*5 Pools *Water Slides *2 lazy rivers *Several state-of-the-art fitness centers *2 kid’s splash parks *miniature golf *7-mile jogging trail

Full Service Blue Harmony Spa *Couple’s Suite *Outdoor treatment rooms *Chromotherapy experience showers

Wi-Fi in guestrooms and public areas Located within 3 miles of Disney Springs

*Offers a large variety of restaurants, shops, entertainment and more. Special group rates on Walt Disney World tickets may be available.

*Complimentary shuttles to Walt Disney World Theme Parks. Easy access to and from Orlando International Airport Two complimentary bottles of water per stay Access to modern technology in our business center

*Apple Computers, Printer, Fax and color copier Complimentary newspapers 10% off Blue Harmony Spa Children 5 years old and younger eat free with a paying adult in Tesoro Cove Complimentary coffee in all guest rooms

Click on this link to the hotel: http://www.wyndhamgrandorlando.com Click on the link below for a preview of what dining and shopping awaits you at the nearby Disney Springs! disneysprings.com We’ll see you there!

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MEMBERSHIP NEWS PAT BENTLEY, CTR & SALLY KRUSE. CTR – CHAIRPERSONS

patbentley@verizon.net or sallyctr@yahoo.com

We (Pat & Sally) were overwhelmed by the FCRA membership’s response on our request for payment of dues last year. Due to the software glitch (some members’ dues were not recorded for previous years and we had no way of verifying one way or another if they were paid), all members were considered paid up to date for 2014/2015 as long as their dues were paid by 10/31/2015. We are happy to report the dues flowed in and the membership roster is now correct. As of September 19, 2016 FCRA has 152 Active members, which include: 5 Associate Members - 6 New CTRs (complimentary) and 11 Honorary. Remember you must be an active FCRA member to receive a discount on the registration for the FCRA Annual meeting. We also noticed that some members need to update their profiles on the FCRA web page https://www.fcra.org/. Please check out your profile found under - Member Menu, then choose Your User Profile to update. We use e-mail to contact the membership using Web Blast with breaking information or to let them know of upcoming events. To insure you are included, it is very important to keep your information current and make sure your employer, e-mail and phone number are correct – the latter is needed in case your e-mail is returned.

BELOW ARE THE FCRA BYLAWS RELATING TO THE MEMBERSHIP There are approximately 70 members that have not paid their dues for this year. Don’t be hit with a late charge. Please remember the due date for the 2016/2017 fiscal year is August 31, 2016 and is delinquent after October 31, 2016. Remember dues received after October 31st will be charged a $10 late fee. You may pay your dues anytime by logging on to the FCRA Webpage https://www.fcra.org/ click on Pay Dues and you can pay your dues either by Credit Card or check. If Send a Check is chosen mark “will send check”, (some of us don’t like to give out our credit card number on the Internet) your membership would be marked pending. Check should be received by Pat prior to Oct 31, in order to avoid a late fee. Mail the check to Pat Bentley - 3615 Plymouth Drive Winter Haven, FL 33884 - she will e-mail you confirmation and update the membership status. If you have any questions or need help navigating the FCRA Web Page please e-mail Pat, or Sally and we would be happy to help you.

If you have any questions regarding membership, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will have a full report on the membership at the FCRA Annual meeting.

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ODE TO THE MAN

There once was a very special man Who taught us the motto of “CAN” When asked could he help, he never said “How, where, what or why?” But with that very ready smile in his eye His response was an immediate “Yes, I can!” Such a leader, such a man, Has now found himself smitten by an illness cruel, With the loss of his movements we all take for granted Still he smiled as he took on this duel, Between his will and his body and crippling pain And still he says, again and again, With gratitude, “Thank you for all that you do.” Walter, of course we will miss you,you handsome man, But do not worry, you taught us we can, We can step forward and say with a smile, “We can do it, we can! ‘cause we learned from the MAN!” Anonymous (From all his friends on the FCRA Executive BOD) **********************************************************************************

SPECIAL THANKS A note from Walter Sanford, CTR

Thanks to all of you for your kindness and generosity. Celebrating my birthday and retirement was so special this year and it couldn’t have happened in a better venue. With the help of modern medicine, I hope to see all of you next year in Orlando at the Wyndam Grand Orlando Resort. Thanks for all that you do!

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FCRA / FCDS TASK FORCE taskforce@fcra.org

The main purpose of this task force is to allow for an easy method of communicating various issues at both the Cancer Registrars and Central Registry level. This task force will tackle problems such as issue resolution, improvement of processes (with the hope of increasing efficiency), and assist in identifying areas of educational needs. The task force direct e-mail is taskforce@fcra.org please feel free to contact them with any issues you would like the task force to address.

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FCRA EDUCATION FOUNDATION LIAISON

Jamie Suarez, RHIT, CTR jksuarez0619@yahoo.com

The foundation board would like to thank all who donated items for the auction at the 2016 FCRA Annual Meeting held in Boca Raton, Florida. Our donations were again most generous with some wonderful items that went up for bid. The silent auction this year involved some very active bidding. We thank webmaster Walter Sanford for advertising this year's event via e-mail. We also want to thank those who got into the bidding on many popular items. Funds raised by this auction goes toward the education of Florida Cancer Registrars. The final total for the 2016 meeting was $1,422. 50. If you would like to donate an item or put together a basket for next year, please contact Gayle Clutter, President of the FCRA Education Foundation. To increase the amount of money the Foundation can generate for the education of registrars, there is a need for additional volunteers. If you think that what the Foundation is doing is important, and are interested in helping out, please contact Gayle Clutter as listed below. Together we can help provide even more educational opportunities to support high quality cancer information. Gayle Clutter, gclutter@tampabay.rr.com We would like to recognize those that have made in memory donations to the FCRA Education Foundation, to date in 2016.

Thank you to the following:

Patricia and Alan Bentley Bessie Henderson Annette Hurlburt

Martha Oliva

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HISTORIAN

Anne Auguste, CTR annethesunshine@gmail.com

Pics from the 38th Annual Meeting Boca Raton

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