Cancer Registry Quality Coordinator, Full-time, Days

At Northwestern Medicine, every patient interaction makes a difference in cultivating a positive workplace. This patient-first approach is what sets us apart as a leader in the healthcare industry. As an integral part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to join our quest for better healthcare, no matter where you work within the Northwestern Medicine system. At Northwestern Medicine, we pride ourselves on providing competitive benefits: from tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness to 401(k) matching and lifecycle benefits, we take care of our employees. Ready to join our quest for better?

The Cancer Registry Quality Coordinator reflects the mission, vision, and values of NM, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.

The Cancer Registry Quality Coordinator oversees the quality and integrity of Cancer Registry data and performance at a system level. The department includes data information specialists that capture a complete history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status for every cancer patient in the Northwestern Medicine Healthcare Corporation system. 

The Quality Coordinator ensures adherence to cancer registry and cancer program quality-related accreditation standards as outlined by the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer. The Quality Manager ensures complete and accurate data is entered into the registry, and has oversight for cancer registry department education development, and training and oversight for new Certified Tumor Registrars. 

The Quality Coordinator acts as a registry liaison for and works closely with regional and system-level oncology service line partners and working groups to deliver data requests, design and supply data for dashboard metrics, and ensure compliance with other accrediting bodies. The Coordinator will also provide essential information to researchers, healthcare providers, and public health officials to better monitor and advance cancer treatments, conduct research, and improve cancer prevention and screening.

Responsibilities:

• Work cooperatively and collaboratively with registry team, medical staff, hospital and physician office staff and leadership to define and achieve common aims
• Orient new cancer registrars to ensure complete and accurate chart abstraction and registry data entry.   
• Design and implement registry team orientation plans and continuing education as needed
• Mentor clinical student interns and non-CTR team members and provide quality oversight their work.
• Confirm accuracy and integrity of abstracted data, ensure abstracts and follow-up are completed within a timely basis and assure regulatory and/or accreditation related requirements are met.  Assess registrar-specific performance and provide coaching as needed.
• Perform medical record reviews and other data collection activities that assist in identifying potential operational, clinical quality, documentation and patient safety improvement opportunities. 
• Work with cancer registry leadership to develop and implement improvement initiatives to maintain abstracting goals and address identified improvement opportunities
• Consult with regional and system-wide service-line partners, physicians, and outside facilities to meet data request needs.  Coordinate data reporting, pull data, provide preliminary analysis.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory organization and accrediting bodies requirements
  • Assist with coordination of quality-related quarterly Cancer Committee preparation and annual Survey/Program Activity Records responsibilities as required to meet accreditation by the ACoS for their region(s).
  • Oversee and ensure timely completion of physician quality audits of Cancer Registry data for Cancer Committee
• Uphold legal and ethical aspects of data security and confidentiality

• Assist with daily registry operations and activities as needed
• Attend Oncology, Quality and Registry staff meetings, Town Hall meetings and other NMHC MyLearning sessions as requested
• Completes other duties assigned by System Cancer Registry Manager

Required:

• Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR)
• 5 years of Cancer Registry experience
• Bachelor's degree strongly preferred but experience may be accepted in lieu of formal education
• Strong personal computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills

Preferred:

• 7 years’ experience as a CTR
• Elekta/Metriq cancer registry software experience, with Reports/Query Wizard proficiency preferred
• Experience with Epic, Meditech, Mosaiq

Northwestern Medicine is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits that provide employees with tools and resources to improve their physical, emotional, and financial well-being while providing protection for unexpected life events. Please visit our Benefits section to learn more.