Susanna L. Mitchell, CTR, serves as the Quality Control & Mentoring Director for the Oncology Services Division of Registry Partners Incorporated. Susanna oversees and directs the quality control & mentoring operations for all cancer registry projects, including Commission on Cancer accredited cancer programs as well as state incidence reporting and state central registry based projects. She serves as a mentor and resource for quality control managers…
Have you heard the phrase, “Garbage In Garbage Out?” As Consultants, we are often asked by prospective and current clients, “How do I use the cancer registry data?” “How do I know it has any value?” “Do you ensure its integrity?” When asked to review a new clients’ data base our first step is to use our standard QC Data Reports to pull out key fields…
Just like you, we are all busy reviewing and clearing the NCDB edits in anticipation for the Call for Data. This process can be overwhelming for some programs, especially if the Cancer Registrars have never dealt with the volume of reviews or the electronic steps you must follow. Registry Partners Incorporated is familiar with being contracted to assist programs with the submission. It is a great opportunity to evaluate…
Q: How is the 1st and 2nd procedure coded in the following melanoma scenario? 1st Procedure: Back lesion, skin punch biopsy of large lesion: Lentiginous malignant melanoma, Clarks level II, 1 mm depth of invasion, ulceration absent, mitoses not identified, all margins are grossly positive. 2nd Procedure: Wide Excision: Residual melanoma, the lesion is .9 cm from the nearest margin. completely excised. A: 1st Procedure is coded to a diagnostic…
