Terry receives Alabama Cancer Registrar Association’s annual award
The award is named for association founder Barbara Yarber and is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the registry profession.
By Jessica Jones
jtjones@health.southalabama.edu
Longtime Providence Hospital employee Toni Terry was recognized at the Alabama Cancer Registrar Association’s (ACRA) annual conference and presented with the Barbara Yarber Distinguished Registrar award.
Established in 2008 by ACRA, the award is named for the association’s founder, Barbara Yarber, and given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the registry profession.
Terry served as president of ACRA and cancer conference coordinator on USA Health Providence Hospital’s cancer committee and led the Commission on Cancer (COC) survey in 2023. Working closely with the local cancer committee and the director of the cancer center at Providence Hospital, Terry reported the hospital’s standards of cancer care to the COC surveyor. Providence received zero deficiencies for the first time in the hospital’s history of its COC accreditation.
“Few facilities go through the survey with zero deficiencies. That is one of the reasons I am so proud of the work I’ve been a part of in Providence’s cancer registry,” Terry said. “Our registry provides support for our cancer program development, and accurate data is key to our goal of preventing and controlling cancer.”
Cancer registrars submit their data to the state and National Cancer Database (NCDB), where the results are compared on national and state levels to determine which treatments are working, and report indications of possible clusters of certain cancer types in geographical areas.
Cancer inspections, or surveys, are performed every three years by the COC to accredited facilities. The COC has 38 standards in which the facility is expected to meet to keep its accreditation, outlining goals for improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients. When a survey is conducted, the surveyor reviews the facility's compliance with their standards to ensure it is providing valued care.
Providence Hospital was rated “compliant” in all 38 standards in the 2023 survey.
“Receiving zero deficiencies during the survey shows Providence Hospital’s data is accurate and impacts future cancer treatment at the facility,” said Gary Lee, director of the cancer center at Providence Hospital. “This award is well deserved for Toni. She pushes Providence to be the gold standard in cancer registry.”
An employee of Providence Hospital for 17 years, Terry was hired as a part of its cancer research team because of her regulatory background in clinical trials. Interested in working for the cancer registry, Terry – cancer registry lead – went back to school and later passed the Certified Tumor Registrar’s test in 2018.
Cancer registrars are highly trained in data management and collect and process cancer data. They report all aspects of a patient’s cancer, including demographics, cancer site codes, histology, labs, pathology, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, survivorship, and more.
Local tumor boards are led by cancer registrars and are held on a weekly basis at Providence Hospital. During these meetings, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, nurse practitioners and surgeons gather to discuss treatment options for patients. Physicians send patient cases to the registrar, who plans the meeting and reports to the cancer committee with the number of cases discussed each year.
