Hi,
I have a question to ask of the group. I work in California for a large HMO.
We have state reporting here and
past practice has been to always record annual follow up on patients, with last
date of contact, vital status,
tumor status, date of first recurrence, site of first recurrence. Our
organization is going through changes with
budget cuts. I spent all of last week and one day this week on a committee
dissecting our profession and ways
to cut duties and cut costs. One of managements proposals is to no longer do
follow up. Just abstract state
reported cases. Another proposal is passive follow up. Just entering date of
last contact, alive or dead. The
Cancer Registrars fought to include any information we could on why follow up is
a relevant part of the piece or
why we need to continue doing it. Out of the 10 hospitals covered by this HMO,
only 4 have opted to keep ACOS
accreditation. This was decided by local area Cancer Committee MD's. Does
anyone have any take or opinion on
opting not to do follow up when the hospital has a registry staff available?
Also we are being asked to increase
productivity standards and abstract 7.5 cases per day, the current standard is
6. If we don't do follow up this will
be enforced 7.5 per day, everyday, with corrective action on those who can't
meet standard. Need some advice
or help please.
Thanks,
Tracy
Southern Cal