Taylor Stortz started working with Registry Partners originally as a part-time project CTR in May of 2013. A year later, in May of 2014, she accepted a full-time project CTR/QC Specialist position, where she worked on a complex CoC project. Due to her excellent abstracting skills, she quickly adapted to the QC process and the QC oversight of her assigned CTRs and was promoted to Quality Control Manager.
Prior to working with RPI, Taylor spent 2 years as a Certified Tumor Registrar in an accredited cancer program environment and also worked as a Medical Records Inpatient Coder at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis, IN. In her role as Certified Tumor Registrar she abstracted, served as the reporting and quality liaison for RQRS, participated in quality improvement studies and assisted with cancer conferences. As a coder, she achieved 100% on her quarterly coding audits and she personally conducted audits on 100% of Radiation Oncology charts. Taylor also served as the ICD-10-CM/PCS super user for her coding department and is fully trained in ICD-10.
Taylor earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2007 from St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana and her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Administration in 2011 at Indiana University School of Informatics in Indianapolis, IN. She is certified as an RHIA, CTR and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt in addition to being a member of the National Cancer Registrars Association and Indiana Cancer Registrars Association.
She resides in Indianapolis, IN with her 25 lb. Shih Tzu named Peyton and her new Shih Tzu, Leia. She is a die-hard sports fan and enjoys attending Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers and Indiana Hoosiers games with her fiancé Brett. She also enjoys reading, traveling, attending concerts, gardening, going to the gym and spending free time with her niece. She has a special love for marching band and has played the flute and piccolo for 20 years and the piano for 23 years. She has taught numerous high school marching bands.
Q&A with Taylor:
Q: In your opinion, what makes your job interesting?
A: I love that cancer registry is ever-changing. I believe this means that we are making progress in the fight against cancer. I am thankful to contribute to the data and research to help people who are diagnosed by the minute.
Q: How did you become aware of the CTR profession and what did you do to prepare for the CTR certification?
A: While in college for my RHIA, the Health Information program required a cancer registry class as part of our curriculum. After college I inquired about an open cancer registry position and all the cards fell into place. I knew from the first week that this profession was more than a profession. It is a passion and a way to make a difference in peoples’ lives.
In preparation for the CTR exam I first worked in the field for a year. While doing so, I tried to gain all the exposure and knowledge possible. I attended cancer committee, tumor board and the NCRA webinars. In addition, I read the guidelines of all manuals and familiarized myself. Finally, I picked the sites I knew were tricky for me and focused on them for a week at a time. This helped me to gain confidence and consistency.
Q: What do you feel are some qualities that are necessary for someone to be a good cancer registrar?
A: It is important to be flexible. This field is constantly growing and changing which requires willingness to adapt. Attention-to-detail is crucial to ensure the quality data. Without quality data it is not meaningful data. Lastly, openness to accept that there are multiple ways to do something in order to achieve the same result.