We’d like to introduce a new feature on our blog Get to Know Onco. This series will serve to highlight an individual member of the ONCO team, his or her experience, and his or her role within the company.
We value our employees greatly at ONCO. We look forward to introducing them and sharing their experiences with you.
Q: What is your Current Role at ONCO?
BK: I am responsible for the growth, management, and strategy for two separate branches of the company – Professional Services and Navigation Systems. Professional Services is made up of two branches (1) Abstracting Services and (2) Consulting Services. Abstracting services assist clients with casefinding, abstracting, and follow-up backlogs. We also can supplement existing staff and we support full outsourcing of an ONCOLog registry. Navigation Systems includes the ONCONav application which is used by cancer programs across the country to maximize their navigation program’s workflow, demonstrate its effectiveness, and improve patient continuity of care.
Q: What were your previous roles and experience?
BK: Over my 11 years at Sentara Healthcare in Hampton Roads, VA, I served as the Cancer Information Manager, Manager of Patient Care Services, and Oncology Service Line Director before I left the organization in 2019. My duties included managing a 9 hospital, 10,000 case centralized cancer registry, managing a 10 navigator navigation program, and managing the service line’s finances, strategy, and Integrated Network Cancer Program (INCP) CoC accreditation. I was also proud to lead the launch and growth of the CT Lung Screening program across 12 hospitals, which significantly impacted the stage of disease in our community’s lung cancer population. Prior to my work at Sentara, I worked at Riverside Health System in Newport News, VA where I served as their Cancer Registry Supervisor and Oncology Research Coordinator.
Q: How did you get into this industry?
BK: Partially by accident and partially by design. I graduated in 2002 from Clemson University with a BS in Health Science, but my main interest was epidemiology. As I continued my education at Eastern Virginia Medical School in their Master’s of Public Health program, I needed a job during the day. I applied to 4-5 jobs at Riverside Health System and received a call back to interview for a job in the Cancer Registry (Cancer Registry, what is that?). It seemed to align with my interest in epidemiology and I had always had a specific interest in cancer as both my mom and my aunt had breast cancer. So I managed to get the position and from there expanded my role from follow-up into casefinding and abstracting. Then once I obtained my CTR in 2004, I grew into a supervisory role before transitioning to Sentara and expanding my role into service line admin. While I don’t abstract much these days, I still have a great appreciation for the focus, dedication, and flexibility that cancer registrars must possess to consistently do quality work.
Q: Why did you choose ONCO?
BK: In 2009, I was tasked with a vendor analysis as we looked to convert to a more multi-facility ‘Network’ friendly software. ONCOLog was far and away the best option in my opinion and we converted to ONCOLog that year. I got to work with the Support team at that point and really enjoyed the conversion (is that possible?? Does anyone love a conversion?). Fast forward a few years, I got to meet Jim and Heidi (our co-CEOs) as well as Dr. Ted Williamson at a NCRA meeting and really enjoyed chatting with them and brainstorming ideas and uses for ONCOLog. They seemed generally interested in my ideas and how we were leveraging the system for studies, user-defined fields, and to meet accreditation standards. Once something became available at ONCO that was in my wheelhouse, I jumped at the chance to apply and I’ve absolutely loved my two years here thus far. If I look back to why I chose ONCO, it comes down to 3 things (1) a genuine interest from Jim, Heidi, and Ted to make the software work for CTRs – not just as a state reporting mechanism, but as a cancer program quality improvement tool (2) the customer support was exemplary during my 10 years as an ONCOLog client and they truly wanted to solve any issues quickly and in a friendly fashion and (3) the opportunity to learn, foster relationships across the country, and continue to grow two divisions of the company that I have a lot of experience and interest in.
Q: What is your favorite feature in ONCOLog?
BK: Well, my bias would say the Pending Additional Treatment (Incomplete) fields because we created something similar at Sentara, I validated that others were using similar fields (see Theresa Hayden from Overlake Client Connect) and then the ONCOLog team was kind and flexible enough to put the fields in 4.5.0 for all clients to use. But if I’m being 100% honest, it’s the Comments pull-out window. If I was still abstracting, I think that would have been a gamechanger for the way I abstract and how quickly I abstract. I was always a note taker – go through the EMR, write details on a sticky note, and then abstract from the sticky note. With the Comments always being visible no matter which tab I’m on, I could have started with the comments electronically and then abstracted from my text. And saved trees! We do have a couple of new Reports Plus reports that may jump the Comments window for my #1 all- time favorite ONCOLog feature though, so stay tuned for those.
Q: On a personal note, what is your favorite sport?
BK: Soccer. My dad won a state championship as a soccer coach. My older brother was an all-state goalkeeper. So I’m not sure I had much of a choice. Whether it was nurture or nature is up for debate, but I’ve always loved soccer and until Covid put things on pause, I was managing a 300-person soccer league in Hampton, VA on Sunday afternoons. My favorite team is Arsenal FC from the English Premier League, but these days that’s something I don’t really promote freely (i.e. they didn’t do very well last season). I’m also a proud supporter of Lionsbridge FC (our local semi-pro soccer team) and my wife and I hosted a player from England in the summer of 2019.
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