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Many medical guidelines don’t consider costs

Published in:  The Baltimore Sun / Reuters, May 8, 2013  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Professional medical societies don’t often consider costs when they’re developing their treatment guidelines for specific conditions, according to a new study. Researchers found that just over half of the top medical societies with at least 10,000 members considered costs when developing best practices. The other half either implicitly considered costs or didn’t address them at all. “Even when they said they looked at costs, they didn’t seem to have a clear, consistent or rigorous way to do so,” said Dr. Steven Pearson, the study’s senior author and a visiting scientist in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Hard Work

What are Accountable Care Organizations?

The buzzword is not new, ACO’s or accountable care organizations.  But, do you know what they are, how they work, and how they impact cancer patients or yourself? 

Cancer Registrars should be familiar with ACOs and the role they play in healthcare.  We’ve linked you to an excellent video below that describes the ACO in simple terms.  When watching the video, pay particular attention to the section on use the use of patient care data between the ACO and specialists.  For cancer registrars this should be a trigger to thinking of new opportunities for the use and evaluation of quality cancer data and the role that we will play in providing it. 

Getting the Brain in Gear

What do you do each morning to get your brain in gear? Sometimes we think we need to do something complex or difficult when it is the simplest things that work best.

Dr. Henry Cloud has some great insight on how to get rid of the “toxic stuff” and move ahead. . . “because every breath you take is headed somewhere.”

Click Here to Play 60 Second Audio Recording by Dr Henry Cloud

Dr. Cloud is a leadership consultant, best-selling author, and speaker, selling over 5 million copies of his books. He is highly regarded in faith-based and secular organizations for his ability to connect with people on topics of personal growth, conflict, leadership and performance at home and in business.

 

How Do You Shape Your World?

How has your day gone so far?  If you are like many people you went about your business today with some ups, and some downs.  For some it may have been worse, or perhaps even better.  Shaping our world is something that we CAN and should be doing.  Nothing should be left to chance or placed in the hands of someone else.  Gary Lew said this so well, “This is your world.  Shape it or someone else will.” 

We have the power and ability within ourselves to not only shape our world, but to create a life that is beyond our wildest dreams and imagination.  We are not saddled with what someone else expects of us.  One only has to look at the Special Olympics, or other people that have overcome significant hardship or challenges to do something great.  So, why is that so many people, with the world at their fingertips and so many blessings and gifts in hand, can’t make a go at success or happiness?  

Joel Osteen, in his book Your Best Life Now: 7 steps to Living at Your Full Potential, said, “You must make a decision that you are going to move on.  It won’t happen automatically.  You will have to rise up and say, ‘I don’t care how hard this is, I don’t care how disappointed I am, I’m not going to let this get the best of me.  I’m moving on with my life.” 

Each of us has potential and the God-given choices abilities to use that for something great.  How we go about it, or how we shape our life to use these resources is entirely up to us.  Cancer Registrars can easily get overwhelmed with rules, changes, guidelines, coding requirements and the constant change and shifting that is happening in healthcare today.  But, even with all that, they can rise above it and change their world.  

So, how are you shaping your world today?  What do YOU do that makes a difference?  What do YOU do that keeps you going no matter what?  Please share with us your tips and secrets.  It is by sharing and helping one another that we grow.  

In closing, consider this statement by Maria Shriver, who I think is an excellent example of someone who has risen above the fray many times.  “Make the job a reflection of you, as opposed to you trying to fit into the job.”  Cancer Registrars, does your work reflect well of you or are you swimming in self-doubt?  Are you bringing your expertise to the table to meet the organization’s business need, or are you slumped back in your chair waiting for someone to come to you?  Are you using your skills, talents and worth to shape and serve your world?

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Michele Webb creator of  http://www.RegistryMindset.com the cancer registrar’s best online resource, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar, committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional education as a coach, mentor, motivational speaker and author.  You have permission to repost this article as long as do not alter it in any way and give a link back and credit to the author and this URL.   

 

Get Started Now, Don’t Wait

Take Back Control

Have you listened to the news recently?  If so you probably heard at least a few of these words:  crisis, disaster, scandal, tragic, threat, devastation, danger, emergency, shooting, crash, and the list goes on.  No wonder people feel hopeless or become apathetic!  The few moments of news that is uplifting does nothing to counter the barrage of negativity and media hype.  

Not too long ago Darren Hardy, editor of Success magazine interviewed racing legend Mario Andretti.  When asked what his No. 1 success tip was, Andretti said, “Don’t look at the wall.  Your car goes where your eyes go.”  As a teenager I frequently went rock climbing and rappelling.  The secret was to not look down or to think about going down.  You enjoyed the activity when you admired the scenery around you and trusted your gear to get you safely up or down the face of the rock.  Imagine a tightrope walker who only focused on the ground.  If they do not look up and focus on the rope, they will fall!   

Our brains are complex organs but there are some simple rules you can follow to be in control of your life and your success as a cancer registrar.  Your mind will hold whatever it is you think about, talk about and act on.  If your mind is filled with negative thinking or if your social circles are filled with negative people who incessantly dwell on the dark side of life.  Or, if words like, too busy, overworked, misunderstood, not valued, or no one cares are in your vocabulary, that is what you will get back in life.  You’re probably familiar with the adage, “garbage in, garbage out.”  

We get in life what we create and our expectations drive the creative process that we call life.  Our expectations come from what we think and talk about.  They come from the thoughts and words of people we associate with and the relationships we form.  Whatever we allow ourselves to see and hear has an impact on our brain.  

In your cancer registry, what do you talk about?  What is the focus of your conversations and what do you want to happen?  Is your talk or behavior positive or is it one of “doom and gloom?”  If there is only grumbling about too much work to do, or if you only gripe about the new reporting rules or standards or the water-cooler talk is about team members who you feel are not supporting or valuing your work, then consider cleaning house!

It’s time to flush your mind and develop a positive, inspirational and supportive environment.  By changing your thoughts and behaviors you can overcome challenges and obstacles that would have otherwise sent you into a blue funk.  Creating a mindset of gratitude, abundance, health, love and joy so that you can grow and be successful is a constant challenge, but one that CAN be done.  

It is time to take back control of your mind and your life.  If you focus your thoughts and attention on what is right in the world and in your workplace then others will not have the power or potential to do you harm.  If you focus your attention on ideas, information and knowledge and with an eye to the mission and values of your organization you will be able to serve others and grow your value as a cancer registrar and member of your family and community.  By taking back control of your mind and focus you can make a positive difference in the world.    

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Michele Webb creator of  http://www.RegistryMindset.com the cancer registrar’s best online resource, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar, committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional education as a coach, mentor, motivational speaker and author.  You have permission to repost this article as long as do not alter it in any way and give a link back and credit to the author and this URL.   

Will You Be Successful in 2012?

Did you set New Year’s resolutions for 2012?  If so, are you still working to reach those goals or, have you like about 40% of people, already abandoned any notion of working on them?  Don’t feel bad if you answered “yes” to this last question.  

Arianna Huffington was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time Magazine in 2006 and again in 2011.  She is the president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, author of thirteen books, and a very successful woman.  So, would it surprise you to learn that she has a very simple and realistic solution for how to be successful in life?  Maybe not, but you need to watch this short video to hear her secret!

We all want to be successful at work and in life.  None of us set out to fail and we certainly do not want to “shoot ourselves in the foot” by not getting all the insider secrets on how to be successful.  And yet, almost every day, cancer registrars are doing just that.  We work too many hours, take too few breaks, live unhealthy lifestyles, sleep too few hours and, by our own choosing (yes, our own, not our employer’s!) take on too much.  You may think that you are doing what you have to, should do, or what your employer demands of you, but instead you are becoming less effective, diluting your value and expertise as a cancer registrar, and, perhaps, working yourself to an earlier demise.  I don’t mean to be harsh or to scare you, but we all need a reality check from time to time.  

Ms. Huffington’s personal experience and secrets to success can change your life and help you to live a healthier, happier and deeply successful life.  I hope that you listen to this short video carefully and that you take immediate action to change your life today.  

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Michele Webb creator of  http://www.RegistryMindset.com the cancer registrar’s best online resource, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar, committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional education as a coach, mentor, motivational speaker and author.  You have permission to repost this article as long as do not alter it in any way and give a link back and credit to the author and this URL

You have two choices

Do the opposite

Achieving cancer registry success is not easy.  It is challenging to keep operations moving smoothly while ensuring your team is pleased with your work and then trying to stay on top of the many reporting standards and guidelines.  You may be wondering if you will EVER step off that treadmill or if you’ll be sent flying off the end of the belt like a Frisbee out of control!

Do the Opposite

There’s a rule in business that you may find helpful.  It’s called “The Law of Holes.”  I have no idea who coined this phrase, but it is incredibly powerful and one of the most useful laws you may ever come across.  The rule says this, “When you find yourself in one, stop digging!”  

Have you ever had that feeling that the deeper you went into a problem or situation, the darker it became?  If you have, that was The Law of Holes “speaking” to you.  If you have not been in this position yet, give yourself a pat on the back.  But, remember this, it is not a matter of if you ever experience hole digging, it is only a matter of when.  So, how do you avoid the dark holes and the pits in the cancer registry?

Brian Tracy, internationally renowned self-help author and motivational speaker, offers an alternative.  Our natural tendency when we find ourselves in a hole is to dig deeper.  And, the deeper you go the darker it becomes.  Sometimes, doing the exact opposite will turn out to the better, or perhaps even perfect, solution.  

Do the opposite of what you have been doing, with joy and positive expectations, and you will likely get results.  Maybe not 100% of the time, but don’t underestimate it’s power and potential for change.  When you do have a success moment, drop back to this blog post and tell us what you did and how it worked.  By sharing with your cancer registry network you will expand your success potential and develop a community of expertise and support.    

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Michele Webb creator of  http://www.RegistryMindset.com the cancer registrar’s best online resource, is a nationally recognized, certified cancer registrar, committed to Cancer Registry leadership and professional education as a coach, mentor, motivational speaker and author.  You have permission to repost this article as long as do not alter it in any way and give a link back and credit to the author and this URL.