Louisiana Cancer Registrars Association

Louisiana Cancer Registrars Association (LCRA) was founded in October of 1977 for the purpose of providing educational opportunities, workshops, seminars, and symposiums for registrars and their associates in order to improve the quality and uniformity of registries in Louisiana. Also of importance is promoting the recognition of Cancer Registrars/Data Managers throughout the State. The primary responsibility of a cancer registrar is to assure that complete and accurate data are collected and maintained for all cancer patients diagnosed and/or treated within an institution or other defined population such as the state of Louisiana. Local, state and national cancer agencies use registry data in defined areas to make important public health decisions that maximize the effectiveness of limited public health funds, such as the placement of screening programs. Cancer registries are valuable research tools for those interested in the etiology, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Fundamental research on the epidemiology of cancer is initiated using the accumulated data. Lifetime follow-up is an important aspect of the cancer registry. Current patient follow-up serves as a reminder to physicians and patients to schedule regular clinical examinations and provides accurate survival information. There are three reasons to keep this data in a cancer registry: Education, Lifetime Patient Follow-up, and Research. A cancer registry is a data system designed for the collection, management and analysis of data on persons with the diagnosis of a malignant disease (cancer).Under the supervision of the Cancer Registry Manager, the Cancer Registry Administrator (CRA) & CTR works directly with Certicode and Facility staff, and is accountable for performing assigned duties including but not limited to: Case-Finding, Follow-Up, Data Quality activities, Tumor Board Coordinating/Administration, and Abstracting while maintaining compliance with State DOH, CoC & NAPBC. The CRA will serve as the point of contact for communication and interaction between the Hospital and Certicode regarding matters related to program management, program operations and cancer registry duties as required. Activities will include (but will not be limited to): The CRA conducts data quality related activities such as internal abstract QA audits, case-finding audits, follow-up on State DOH quarterly feedback reports, reviews, evaluations, and updating of CoC Completeness reports, collection of cancer treatment records for quality data audits to ensure compliance with State DOH, CoC, and NAPBC regulatory requirements and standards. The Louisiana Tumor Registry received the first place award, for the 2016 Data Quality Profile, on the November 2015 data submission, at the SEER Managers’ meeting this week. Their data met all the goals in the Data Quality Profile. This is the seventh year in a row that they have received this award. The LTR would like to congratulate all the people at their central office, regional offices, and hospital registries who contributed to this great achievement. This achievement would not be possible without everyone’s dedication and diligent work.