Category Archives: WCRS Updates

06Mar/19

MCRA/WCRA 2019 Annual Regional Education Conference

September 12-13, 2019
Bloomington, MN

Embassy Suites Minneapolis Airport
7901 34th Ave S.
Bloomington, MN

For session information and more, download the Conference Flyer (pdf)

Click here to register

This event will qualify as a Regional Educational Activity for CoC Standard 1.11
NCRA credit is being applied for

19Aug/14

NCRA Training Link

Dear Wisconsin Cancer Reporters,

As part of getting ready for the transition from Collaborative Stage to directly-assigned clinical and pathologic Tumor, Nodes, Metastases (TNM) staging and SEER Summary Stage in 2015-2016, the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA) is providing free training. For those reporters that are new to cancer registry work and reporters that need a refresher, this is a great opportunity to receive training on the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM coding and SEER summary stage.

While WCRS never stopped requiring SEER summary stage, these training sessions provide an excellent refresher and additional information since the requirement for benign brain tumor reporting began in 2004.

These training sessions are the educational modules that were presented in May at NCRA’s 2014 annual conference during the CDC National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) Education and Training Coordinators’ Workshop. They have been posted on the NCRA website. This link will direct you to the presentations, http://www.cancerregistryeducation.org/tnm-ss-resources .

Presentations include:
Results of the AJCC-NCRA Educational Needs Assessment
The National Transition to Directly Coded Stage
CDC-NPCR Transition to Directly Coded Staging: Overview of Transition Activities
CDC-NPCR Transition to Directly Coded Staging: General Rules SEER SS 2000
CDC-NPCR Transition to Directly Coded Staging: Guidelines for Assigning SS 2000
CDC-NPCR Transition to Directly Coded Staging: General Rules for AJCC
CDC-NPCR Transition to Directly Coded Staging: AJCC – Review of Four Cases

If you do not need CE hours, you can watch these presentations for free by clicking directly on the presentation icon. If you would like to purchase CE hours please fill out the viewing form that is available on ths NCRA website and mail payment and form to:

NCRA
Attn: Store/CCRE CEs
1330 Braddock Place Suite 520
Alexandria, VA 22314 USA

You can also find a link to the presentations on the WCRS website at http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/wcrs/reporterinfo/index.htm

Sincerely,

Laura Stephenson
QA Manager
Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System

25Sep/12

2012 WCRA BY-LAWS

WCRA 2012 Bylaws Report                                                        August 22, 2012

At the WCRA Annual Meeting (Fall 2011) a proposal was made to change wording from active to member and the category of associate member to be abolished. This action would require a change to the WCRA Bylaws. The following change is proposed and must be ratified by 2/3 of the membership.

Article III

Membership

SECTION 1:  The classes of membership shall be divided as follows:

CURRENT WORDING

A.  ACTIVE

An active member shall be one who is directly involved with any or all facets of Cancer Registry work; that is, one who works directly with the operation, function or supervision of Cancer Registry and has paid the current dues.  Active members who left the Cancer Registry field may renew as active members.  An active member shall be entitled to full membership privileges including the right to vote, to hold office, to serve as chairman or member of a committee, and to receive printed matter of the Association.

B:  ASSOCIATE:

An associate member is one who is not directly involved with the Cancer Registry work itself, but has an interest in Cancer Registry work or in the field of oncology and has paid current dues.  An associate member is entitled to limited membership privileges including the right to receive printed matter of the Association and to serve as chairman or member of the committee.  An associate member cannot vote nor hold office.

PROPOSED CHANGE

Article III

Membership

SECTION 1:  Membership shall be defined as follows:

 MEMBER

A member shall be one who is directly involved with any or all facets of Cancer Registry work; that is, one who works directly with the operation, function or supervision of Cancer Registry or one who is not directly involved with the Cancer Registry work itself, but has an interest in Cancer Registry work or in the field of oncology and has paid the current dues.  A member shall be entitled to full membership privileges including the right to vote, to hold office, to serve as chairman or member of a committee, and to receive printed or electronic material from the Association.

 

To be proposed at Fall 2012 meeting for vote:

CURRENT WORDING

SECTION 4:

Membership dues for the fiscal year are payable at the Annual Meeting. Members who have not paid their dues by the end of the Annual Meeting will be notified that membership will be forfeited if dues are not received by December 31st.

 

SECTION 5:

New members who join the organization after May 1st will be charged one-half the amount of the annual dues.

PROPOSED CHANGE

SECTION 4:

Membership dues for the fiscal year are payable at the Annual Meeting. Members who have not paid their dues by the end of the Annual Meeting will be notified that membership will be forfeited if dues are not received by December 31st.

All membership dues, renewal and new,  will only be accepted from the Fall Meeting until December 31.

STRIKE SECTION 5

Repsectively submitted,

Pat Recely, Bylaws Chair

20Jul/10

References and Tools

 For current Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System updates click on the following link:  www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/wcrs/reporterinfo.htm                                             

 Web Sites:  Manuals Needed for Required Reporting

Please bookmark or download the following sites for assistance in completing cases for state reporting:

Collaborative Stage Manual

http://www.cancerstaging.org/cstage/manuals.html

Scroll to ‘Manual’ – choose the option to download the complete staging manual.  Use this manual to complete the Collaborative Stage (CS) fields required (and recommended) for reporting.
Multiple Primary and Histology Coding Rules

http://www.seer.cancer.gov/tools/mphrules/download.html

Scroll to ‘Complete Manual’ – Download the complete manual with the latest updates.  Use this coding manual to determine the number of reports needed to complete for each case.
Data Collection of Primary Central Nervous System Tumors

http://seer.cancer.gov/tools/mphrules/benign_brain.html

Use this manual to determine reportability and correct coding for benign brain and CNS tumors (reportable to WCRS beginning 1/1/2004).

Site-specific surgery information

http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/fordsmanual.htmlFrom this site, scroll down the page and select Appendix B – site specific surgery codes.  This will help you identify the correct surgery options for individual sites and choose the correct code when abstracting electronically.

AbstractPlus, the data entry program, is a stand-alone executable and is already available to any facility interested in “going electronic” prior to the 1/1/09 deadline.  Please contact Lu Ann Hahn to obtain the software.  Prior to the deadline you will need to provide your IT staff with the program hardware specifications to ensure your facility is capable of using this system.  Please make sure this is done as soon as possible to allow your IT staff enough time to provide you with the proper access and hardware/software if your computer does not currently meet the required specifications.

AbstractPlus Specifications

RegistryPlus programs are written for the Microsoft® Windows® 32-bit environment installed on an Intel® Pentium® or Pentium-compatible computer. The minimum hardware requirements are the same as those of the Microsoft Windows operating system used. Additional system requirements include:

·         Microsoft operating system from Windows 98 through Windows XP
·         128 MB RAM (512 MB recommended)

·         Latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (recommended) The available hard-disk space requirement for Abstract Plus depends on the number of abstracts that will be used. A minimum of 70 MB of free hard drive space is required.

WebPlus, the data submission software and soon to be required submission platform, is not yet available but will be ready for testing soon with implementation by the October state-wide rollout.  Currently electronic data can be submitted via CRS Main Line, an email-based data encryption and compression program developed for WCRS in 2003.  Contact Lu Ann Hahn to order a copy.  This program will be discontinued once WebPlus is fully operational.

RegistryPlus On Line Help, the help feature included in AbstractPlus and WebPlus, is also available as a stand-alone program from CDC.  It can be downloaded for free from the following Web site:  http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/npcr/tools/

For more information on AbstractPlus, WebPlus or RegistryPlus On-Line Help please visit the CDC/NPCR Web site at:  http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/npcr/tools/

SEER RX Online

Not sure if the drug listed in the patient chart is cancer-directed? Experimental? Hormone therapy?  Chemotherapy?  SEER Rx online look up provides the information you need to help determine the correct drug category and its reportability.  It can be downloaded for free at http://seer.cancer.gov/tools/seerrx/

20Jul/10

Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System Staff

Robert Borchers, Data Manager, GIS Specialist
facility feedback reports, quality assurance, data requests                 (608) 266-0633                              robert.borchers@wisconsin.gov

Mary Foote,  Epidemiologist,
report writing, annual and special publications, data analyses              (608) 261-8874                              mary.foote@wisconsin.gov

LuAnn Hahn, Research Technician, 
form requests, paper report processing, facility profile updates            (608) 266-2082                              LuAnn.Hahn@wisconsin.gov

Kim Ortman, Research Technician, 
electronic submission processing, computer program support             (608) 267-0239                              kim.ortman@wisconsin.gov

Laura Stephenson, Program Director, 
data requests, registry management, reporting and computer support    (608) 266-8926                              laura.stephenson@wisconsin.gov

Carole Eberle, Education Trainer/Coordinator                                      (608) 261-8388
Statewide training, case editing
Carolynn.eberle@wisconsin.gov

Jane Conner, Research Analyst                                                         (608) 267-9055
Quality Assurance Assistant
Jane.conner@wisconsin.gov

Fax Number :                                                                                   (608) 264-9881

Case Submission email address                                    WCRSdata@dhfs.state.wi.us 

WCRS Web Site                                                    www.dhfs.wisconsin.gov/wcrs/index.htm