Even when "abstracting only", there are so many potential
interruptions which decrease productivity. Examples:
1. Analytic patient shared with 1 or more other facilities (we're
required to complete the info - does someone round all that up
before you abstract or do you need to stop and call around to get
what you need faxed over and then put the case aside while you wait
for faxes to arrive?)
2. Your phone rings (for any reason - I'm sure you can think of as
many reasons as any of us can but even "oops wrong number"
interrupts you and slows you down).
3. The chart has contradictory or unclear info and you need to
query someone about it - do you query that person and then [perhaps]
wait for a response? How much time does that take you on average?
In this scenario, do you complete the case as best you can and
correct it as needed when you get your answer? And how/where does
entering the corrected info factor in to your abstracting
productivity?
4. What about the type and complexity of a case? Are there
recurrences to take into account? Do you enter any data which is
not part of the CoC data set, for example subsequent therapy? Do
you have a different time standard depending on how many treatment
modalities a patient receives? What if it happens to be a pediatric
case? If it is, odds are the patient was referred to a pediatric
facility from whom you'll need to request documentation so you can
complete the case. And I abstracted peds - exclusively - for 12
years. I can tell you that they just plain take longer as a general
rule. So, how are these sort of things taken into account?
5. What info is or is not entered ahead of time, and is that
consistent from case to case? If more or less info is entered, and
if there is a pattern to that for certain types of cases, those with
more info entered in advance will obviously take less time to
complete.

Yes, there does need to be a baseline for expected productivity.
However abstracting, as a process, can differ so much from one
facility to another that it is very difficult to establish a
universal productivity standard. Abstracting is actually many
smaller processes taking place from the time we create a case
through the time we complete it. How we divide those up . . .
casefinding, creating/adding cases, entering demographics, entering
staging info, entering text, entering treatment info, entering
follow up, querying for confusing or missing info, adding a doctor
to your DB if a patient has a doc you've not used before for any
other case. I've seen different places organize work flow
differently for these processes based on what worked best for each,
and this changes the answer to the question "how much time does it
take to abstract a case?". You need to identify how you group or
divide these subtasks and then establish norms - or baselines - for
YOUR facility, based on objectively collected data about YOUR
workflow. AND, at the end of the day you need a way of tracking
productivity that is not such a burden it reduces your productivity.
All that said, depending on the types of cases, I can do anywhere
from 4 to 10 cases in one day. Now give me a pile of T1CN0M0
prostates with perfect documentation and I could probably beat 10.
But give me some pediatric cases with complex radiotherapy, bone
marrow transplants, relapses, and subsequent treatment, and info
needed from other facilities I'll be happy to get through 4 and will
go home just beat.
-- Theresa

--- In cancerregistrargroup@yahoogroups.com, "tpar4u"
<tlparsons@s...> wrote:
>
> Hi all. I know I've asked this question in the past. It is
extremely
> important that I gather data on the number of abstracts done per
day.
> This is on a day when all 8 hours is spent on abstracting only.
Do you
> have an enforeced quota that has to be met daily and if so, what
is the
> number of abstracts required? Our employer is requiring us to
complete
> 7.5 abstracts daily for an 8 hour day. They are monitoring us on
a
> weekly basis and we have been informed that we will be subject to
> corrective action and discipline if we cannot achieve this quota.
We
> feel this is unreaslistic. Does anyone have any input or help?
> Tpar4u
>