Registry Partners had the privilege of attending the Georgia and South Carolina Cancer Registrar Associations’ regional meeting, held in Charleston, SC, November 5th-7th 2018.
These two organizations worked together to create a phenomenal agenda. The agenda focused heavily on the 2018 changes, as did many conference agendas this year. And who better to soak up this knowledge than 230 cancer registrars.
The conference consisted of many informative presentations reinforcing updated staging rules as well as an intriguing presentation on robotic surgery. Attendees were taught about the 7 degrees of freedom available during a robotic surgery. This is a 3 degree increase from the limits of laparoscopic surgeries. Videos were shown allowing a first hand visual perspective into what the surgeries we code day in and day out actually look like from a surgeon’s perspective.
Registry Partners’ VP of Accreditation Services, Amy Arnold, also spoke to attendees regarding Commission on Cancer Survey Readiness and tips to avoid common deficiencies. Key emphasis was placed on “closing the circle”. It is not enough to plan and implement a program, improvement or study – the committee needs to analyze the progress and effectiveness, creating new action plans as needed. Emphasis was also placed on the need for thorough documentation in cancer committee minutes. Always remember “If it isn’t documented, it wasn’t done!”
The conference also included an informative and fun approach to the 2018 updates in the form of a “Staging Bee”. Participants, grouped by table, were able to compete to answer questions regarding the new changes. This interactive approach fostered dialogue among participants and provided a new energy to a challenging topic.
Congratulations to Tara Lewis who won the Registry Partners Visa Gift Card raffle.
