Program Information
Notification of Machine Status Through Electronic Reporting System
S Oddiraju1*, D Rangaraj2 (1) Baylor Scott and White Clinics, Temple, TX, (2) Crux Quality Solutions, Temple, TX
Presentations
SU-I-GPD-P-10 (Sunday, July 30, 2017) 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Room: Exhibit Hall
Purpose: The role of IT in the field of radiation oncology has been gaining popularity for recording, tracking and maintaining machine related issues. With increasing complexity of linear accelerator (linac) design, machine related issues are increasing which hinders the performance of the linacs. Main purpose of this application is to track the various issues encountered in the department of radiation oncology regarding the linacs to help the users understand the machine performance and schedule accordingly.
Methods: To track the linear accelerator performance issues, we have a web-based application which will be used by the therapists and physicists to log the details of the technical problems. The systems used in this study are four linear accelerators, three CT simulators, one record verify system and two HDR units. These systems are configured into a data management system for tracking machine related issues, preventive measures, number of treatments cancelled, number of treatments rescheduled and staff over time. The application sends an automatic email notification to all users when an event is logged. It also records the variances of the machine such as imaging issues where the treatments can still be continued with some delays.
Results: Over two years of the use of application, there were over 500 machine down-time events that were reported. The average downtime per year was 60 hours overall. From October 2014 till date the overall down time including response time has been reduced by 20 hours.
Conclusion: Introduction of the electronic reporting system to our services resulted in an improvement in the communication aspect of the entire process. This system will also allow us to collect other institutions data and compare the issues between the clinics. The downtime is also reduced by the faster response of the clinical engineer which reduced the number of cancellations and delay times.
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