Karen Schmidt, CTR, is the vice president of CHAMPS Oncology, the leaders in cancer registry operations. In this role, Schmidt is responsible for the overall strategic direction and leadership of CHAMPS Oncology.

With 17 years of cancer registry experience, Schmidt exudes leadership, innovation, and passion. As a cancer survivor herself, Karen and her entire team of highly skilled cancer registry experts strive to promote the cancer registry profession, improve the quality of cancer data, serve their valued clients, and make a difference in their cancer care initiatives.

Schmidt and her team’s ultimate goal is to provide better data to cancer programs and healthcare providers across the country to improve patient care and save lives. In order to achieve this goal and to maximize their clients’ cancer registries, CHAMPS Oncology develops outsourcing solutions for each client’s cancer program. To do this successfully, they work together as a unified team to:

• Gain a better understanding of the cancer program by completing two in-depth assessments.
• Ensure everyday registry operations (e.g., casefinding, abstracting, and follow-up) are performed and managed efficiently.
• Verify the quality of cancer registry data by reviewing staff abstracting, performing CHAMPS-designed reliability studies; and ensuring CTRs and registry staff receive ongoing training.
• Analyze and interpret cancer data in order to provide clients with a new perspective of their market position by using CHAMPS Oncology’s cloud-based system, insight₂oncology®.
• And lastly, provide guidance and recommendations to assist with the interpretation and implementation of the Commission on Cancer standards and guidelines.

Karen is very closely involved with making integral business decisions, contributing to the cancer registry industry as well as providing cancer program expertise to clients.

In 2018, CHAMPS Oncology was named one of Healthcare Tech Outlook's "Top 10 Healthcare Analytics Solution Providers of 2018." Due to this recognition, Healthcare Tech Outlook interviewed Schmidt and Toni Hare in the article “Maximizing the Potential of Cancer Registries to the Fullest."

Schmidt most recently served as the associate vice president of CHAMPS Oncology. Previously, she held senior leadership positions in human resources and communications. Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, as well as an associate’s degree in Cancer Information Management.

She has experience:

• Assisting administrative and cancer care leadership at new and existing cancer programs to achieve/maintain compliance with the Commission on Cancer standards.
• Establishing processes to assess cancer registry workflow and productivity.
• Creating customized tracking mechanisms for cancer programs to monitor Commission on Cancer compliance.
• Developing statistical analysis and outcome reports.
• Mentoring new cancer registry professionals.

She is currently a member of:

• Association of Cancer Executives
• Association of Community Cancer Centers
• National Cancer Registrar Association

Schmidt's speaking topics include:

• Cancer Program Standards: Ensuring Patient Centered Care 
• Maximizing Your Cancer Registry Data - Administrative Planning, Migration Analysis & Financial Impact
• Streamlining Registry Processes

For more information or to contact Karen Schmidt, CTR, please call 216.255.3671 or contact us.