Kundan Thind1, Michael Roumeliotis2, Thomas Mann3, Lukas Van Dyke4, Kevin Martell5, Wendy Smith2, Lisa Barbera5, Sarah Quirk2. 1. Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: kundanthind@gmail.com. 2. Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary Alberta, Canada. 3. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary Alberta, Canada. 4. Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary Alberta, Canada. 5. Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Calgary Alberta, Canada.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To quantify the change resource utilization in radiation therapy in the context of advancing technologies and techniques over the last decade. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Prospectively, the time to complete radiation therapy workflow tasks was captured between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The institutional task workflows are specific to each technique and broadly organized into 4 categories: 3-dimenstional conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy simple, and volumetric modulated arc therapy complex. These discipline-specific task times were used to quantify a resource utilization factor, which is the median time taken to complete all tasks for each category divided by the median time for 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy treatments. Retrospectively, all plans treated between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, were quantified and categorized. The resource factor was applied to determine resource utilization. For context, institutional staffing levels were captured across the same decade for medical dosimetrists, medical physicists, and radiation oncologists. RESULTS: This analysis includes 30,229 patient plans in the retrospective data set and 4747 patient plans in the prospective data set. This analysis demonstrates that over this period, patient numbers increased by approximately 45%, whereas time-based human resources increased by almost 150%. The resource allocation factors for 3-dimenstional conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy simple, and volumetric arc therapy complex were 1.0, 2.4, 2.9, and 4.3, respectively. Across the 3 disciplines, staffing levels increased from 15 to 17 (13%) for medical dosimetrists, from 10 to 13 (30%) for medical physicists, and from 16 to 23 (44%) for radiation oncologists. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the increase in resource utilization due to the introduction of advanced technologies and changes in radiation therapy techniques over the past decade. Human resource utilization is the predominant factor and should be considered with increasing patient volume for operational planning.
PURPOSE: To quantify the change resource utilization in radiation therapy in the context of advancing technologies and techniques over the last decade. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Prospectively, the time to complete radiation therapy workflow tasks was captured between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The institutional task workflows are specific to each technique and broadly organized into 4 categories: 3-dimenstional conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy simple, and volumetric modulated arc therapy complex. These discipline-specific task times were used to quantify a resource utilization factor, which is the median time taken to complete all tasks for each category divided by the median time for 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy treatments. Retrospectively, all plans treated between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2019, were quantified and categorized. The resource factor was applied to determine resource utilization. For context, institutional staffing levels were captured across the same decade for medical dosimetrists, medical physicists, and radiation oncologists. RESULTS: This analysis includes 30,229 patient plans in the retrospective data set and 4747 patient plans in the prospective data set. This analysis demonstrates that over this period, patient numbers increased by approximately 45%, whereas time-based human resources increased by almost 150%. The resource allocation factors for 3-dimenstional conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy simple, and volumetric arc therapy complex were 1.0, 2.4, 2.9, and 4.3, respectively. Across the 3 disciplines, staffing levels increased from 15 to 17 (13%) for medical dosimetrists, from 10 to 13 (30%) for medical physicists, and from 16 to 23 (44%) for radiation oncologists. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the increase in resource utilization due to the introduction of advanced technologies and changes in radiation therapy techniques over the past decade. Human resource utilization is the predominant factor and should be considered with increasing patient volume for operational planning.
Authors: Gerard M Walls; Valentina Giacometti; Aditya Apte; Maria Thor; Conor McCann; Gerard G Hanna; John O'Connor; Joseph O Deasy; Alan R Hounsell; Karl T Butterworth; Aidan J Cole; Suneil Jain; Conor K McGarry Journal: Phys Imaging Radiat Oncol Date: 2022-07-26
Authors: S K Garattini; F Valent; A M Minisini; C Riosa; C Favaretti; L Regattin; G Fasola Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2022-09-21 Impact factor: 2.908
Authors: Helen Zhang; Ifeanyirochukwu Onochie; Lara Hilal; N Ari Wijetunga; Elizabeth Hipp; David M Guttmann; Oren Cahlon; Charles Washington; Daniel R Gomez; Erin F Gillespie Journal: Adv Radiat Oncol Date: 2022-07-29