Sue VonBosse, RN, BSN, is a Senior Project Manager for the Registry Partners Quality Division, Clinical Registry Services.
Other positions Sue has held with Registry Partners include: Clinical Data Abstractor, Validation Specialist and Validation Manager.
Prior to joining Registry Partners, Sue worked as Manager of the Hospital Quality Program for Parkland Medical Center in Derry, New Hampshire. She has also served in capacities such as: Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety Specialist/Patient Advocate for Carney Hospital in Dorchester, MA; Administrative Clinical Advisor/Operating Room for BIDMC in Boston, MA; Registered Nurse Auditor/Program Manager for Nurse Audit, Inc. in Portsmouth, NH; Operating Room Manager & Surgical Services Staff Nurse for Anna Jaques Hospital in NewburyPort, MA; and Surgical Services Nurse for North Shore Medical Center in Salem, MA.
Sue completed her BSN degree at Austin Peay State University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and she is licensed as an RN in the State of Oregon.
Sue lives in Oregon, with her husband and two Australian Shepherds. She enjoys showing her dogs in agility trials and rally/obedience. She enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, weekend camping trips, and taking jeep excursions searching for hidden lakes.
Q & A with Sue:
Q: What do you like most about your position as Senior Project Manager?
A: I love being part of a collaborative effort to provide the best abstraction and consultation services to our clients. The client’s challenge me to do better, learn more, and go that extra step. I enjoy the close relationships that we develop and I appreciate clients welcoming me as an important part of their Quality Team. I also love that I am surrounded by intelligence, common sense, and motivation. Because our abstractors and leadership have worked in the quality industry for much of their careers, they have seen/heard so much in their “previous lives” that they bring to the table. They apply their experiences to every case that they abstract, and I learn so much from their thought processes. They push me to go to that next level every day.
I also love that Registry Partners leadership provides ongoing help and support … I never feel alone doing this job!
Q: What advice can you give others who may be considering a remote position outside of the clinical setting?
A: The idea of making your own schedule is extremely alluring, and it has worked for me. My advice is to determine whether you could work primarily independently day after day. While we do have regular contact with each other, working from home does not provide the face to face interaction that some people may need. That’s not to say that we are not a close-knit group, just not in the way a facility based position works. If you decide remote work is for you, the best advice I can offer is to organize your life so you can keep work life separate from home life. Plan to “go to work” each day, and leave each work each day. I personally have to put my computer out of my sight, so I will not log on for that “one last task”. Understand that this is a career, and think carefully about your ability to commit to giving the remote position the same effort and respect that an on-site office position would require.
Q: What tips can you provide that may help a clinical data abstractor improve their abstraction skills and become a more efficient abstractor?
A: Use our internal Clinical Resource Library. This is an area that provides everything you need in one place. I save so much time having everything at my fingertips, rather than searching online though Q-Net, TJC, etc. On that note, have the manual(s) that you will reference open and ready when you abstract. Reference other project specific resources that include helpful tips. Scan Q-Net and TJC Q&A pages for the latest questions and answers, and please don’t hesitate to forward a “grey area” question to your Validation Manager/Senior Project Manager. My personal favorite for the latest information: The “Quality Reporting Center” WebEx archive. They provide their PowerPoint slides, transcripts, and recorded sessions. For example, I have the latest sepsis presentation on my desktop, since I use it so much.