Heather serves as a data abstraction subject matter expert, ensuring data accuracy through quality control oversight, while keeping abreast of industry specific data collection rules and specification changes and providing ongoing education to her assigned data abstraction teams.
Prior to joining Registry Partners, Heather worked in the cancer registry field as a CTR II, Oncology Analytics Tumor Registrar II and Central Cancer Registry – Cancer Specialist II. Heather has also served as a Medical Assistant. Her cancer registry experience includes CoC accredited cancer programs and state central registry work.
Heather earned her Associate’s of Applied Science degree in Health Information Management and Technology from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York. She is also a Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR).
Heather resides in New York and in her spare time she enjoys boating, going to the ocean, swimming, taking walks, watching her children’s sporting events and competitions and spending time with her family and friends.
Q & A with Heather:
Q: When you entered into the cancer registry profession, did you learn on your own or did you have a mentor? What benefits do you believe a mentor can provide?
A: I started my career in the New York State Central Cancer Registry, where I was fortunate enough to have an excellent supervisor/mentor. He always provided me with immediate feedback on my work and allowed me to learn from my mistakes. He taught me how to effectively use my manuals and resources, which helped me become a self-sufficient CTR. There is a lot to learn in this field, and having a mentor can help you navigate through the process efficiently and become a successful CTR.
Q: How did you become interested in the Cancer Registry profession?
A: When my brother was diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma, I immediately began to research blood cancers, treatments, and outcomes. I was intrigued by the data, and later learned that CTR’s are a huge piece of that puzzle. I decided to switch majors from Nursing to Health Information Management and work towards becoming a CTR.
Q: What do you feel is the most rewarding aspect of your career?
A: I love knowing that our work, as CTR’s, is helping to make a difference in identifying disparities in patient populations, early detection, patient treatments, outcomes, etc. Seeing published data always reminds me of why it’s so important that we always do our best to provide good, quality data for research.