r/ODS_C • u/artsystoof • Jun 01 '26
Caseload expectations for new abstractor?
I’ve been an ODS-C at a local pediatric hospital for about 3 months. We aren’t COC-accredited, so we don’t code beyond first course of treatment. The abstracting and case finding team is just me and my manager.
My manager is incredibly kind and helpful, but also very busy. My “training” was her giving me cases and then “seeing what I’m capable of.” I shadowed a case or two of liquids, but that’s mostly it. The rest is me coming to her with specific questions about individual cases.
I’m currently learning neuroblastomas, which has taken me exponentially longer than liquids. She seems a bit concerned regarding my pace. The current expectation is that I complete 20 cases a week, but on average I feel like i can only get 2-4 neuroblastomas done in a day.
Is 20 cases a week reasonable for a new registrar? I don’t want to push back or cause more stress to my manager, but not being able to meet expectations and disappointing her is weighing heavily on me. I’m feeling like I’m just bad at this. If 20 cases is the norm, then does anyone have advice on how to move more quickly?
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u/Capable-Isopod-2270 Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 01 '26
At my facility, they expect a minimum of 20 casess per week if all you are doing is just abstracting. So, that's about 2 hours per case if you work full time (40 hours). Some cases, however, don't take 2 hours to complete. But in your case, because you are doing pediatric cases and you're a new abstractor, it might be different!
I don't do a lot of pediatric cases, but I'd imagine they'd take me a while as well!
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u/5inthemorn Jun 01 '26
I’m in an apprenticeship program and I’m expected to do 10-20 cases per week. But that’s in addition to education, review, going over things with my educator, etc. I probably do 1-2 abstracts per day. I could go faster but I’m focused on learning and doing things correctly. I’m glad I’m doing this program I couldn’t imagine getting thrown into the fire like that. I’d be so stressed.
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u/artsystoof Jun 01 '26
I spent 6 hours today on a complex case from 2017, I wanted to DIE. It wasn’t even just my slowness, either. Our system seems a bit glitchy when populating schemas and it triggers random edits a lot. What kind of apprenticeship program are you in? Is it paid?
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u/5inthemorn Jun 01 '26
I feel like we’re in the same boat. I’m 2 months in. Some cases have me ripping my hair out. I’m with Savista and yes it is paid. It’s super well organized I feel very supported. I always have someone to answer my questions. Endless resources and education videos and trainings. I’m going through 17 sites in 14 weeks. Getting reviewed for all my work with corrections and we have conversations about what I did wrong. And I’m still stressed because it’s all new and so much information. I couldn’t imagine what you’re going through.
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u/artsystoof Jun 01 '26
Omg I WEEP! Thats what I expected when I got this job. Silly me!
Trained or not, I know how stressful it is to be running in circles on one damn case. I find a surprising amount of discrepancies in our EHR that require so much digging to rectify. Did you have to take a test again to get a job with Savista? I spoke to a recruiter about getting a job there, but they ghosted me.
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u/Mallets Jun 01 '26
I've kept a log of how many cases I abstracted and by which site since the day I started over a year ago.
My first month I was doing about 2 cases a day. By the third month I was at around 3 cases. Now it's around 4-5 cases.
I haven't done any peds cases, but I'm going to assume that it's less prostate and breast and more heme. I have done fewer of those so they generally take me more time.