For Hometown News
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - Lorraine Flowers, a nurse and tumor registrar abstractor at Indian River Medical Center, recently passed the certified tumor registrar certification examination that demonstrates she has met or exceeded the standard level of experience and technical knowledge required for effective cancer data management in a cancer registry.
The CTR credential is granted through the National Cancer Registrars Association.
A cancer registry is an information system designed for the collection, management and analysis of data on persons with cancer.
Cancer registrars are data management experts who report cancer statistics for various healthcare agencies, and they are involved in managing and analyzing clinical cancer information for education, research and outcome measurement.
Cancer registrars bridge the information gap by capturing a complete summary of the patient's disease from diagnosis through their lifetime.
High-quality cancer registry data is essential to accurately access treatment outcomes and patient survival. Successful operation of a cancer registry requires credentialed staff, who are trained and knowledgeable in all aspects of oncology data collection and case abstracting.
Certified tumor registrars apply knowledge obtained from formal education and work experience to correctly interpret and code cancer diagnosis, stage, treatment and outcomes information for each case.
'After completing these extensive study requirements and becoming certified, I feel that I have a broader understanding of the workings of the registry and have improved my job skills,' said Ms. Flowers. 'Now I can contribute more in my role as a cancer registrar.'
IRMC now has two CTRs, the other being Lucille Weems, CTR, cancer program coordinator.