Visualization of data in radiotherapy using web services for optimization of workflow

Enhancing clinical effectiveness of pre-radiotherapy workflow by using multidisciplinary-cooperating e-control and e-alerts: A SQUIRE-compliant quality-improving study

Radiotherapy (RT) is useful in managing cancer diseases. In clinical practice, early initiation of RT is crucial for enhancing tumor control. But, delivering precise RT requires a series of pre-RT working processes in a tight staff-cooperation manner. In this regard, using information system to conduct e-control and e-alerts has been suggested to improve practice effectiveness; however, this effect is not well defined in a real-world RT setting.We designed an information system to perform e-control and e-alerts for the whole process of pre-RT workflow to shorten processing time, to improve overall staff satisfaction, and to enhance working confidence.A quality-improving study conducted in a large RT center.Externally validated data were retrospectively analyzed for comparison before (from Sep. 2012 to Dec. 2012, n = 223) and after (from Sep. 2013 to Dec. 2013, n = 240) implementation of pre-RT e-control and e-alerts.Applying the e-control with delay-working e-alerts in pre-RT workflow was the main intervention.Nine workstations were identified in pre-RT workflow. The primary outcome measure was the processing time in each pre-RT workstations before and after implementing the e-control and e-alerts. Secondary measures were staff-working confidence and near-missing cases during the process of pre-RT workflow.After implementing e-control, overall processing time of pre-RT workflow was shortened from 12.2 days to 8.9 days (P < .001). Follow-up data (till Jul. 2016) showed a durable effect of 9.2 days, being still below the predefined threshold of <10 days.Using a multidisciplinary-cooperating information system is useful to conduct e-control and e-alerts in the whole process of pre-RT workflow. Clinical effectiveness, staff satisfaction, and working confidence are able to be enhanced obviously.

Electronic Support for Retrospective Analysis in the Field of Radiation Oncology: Proof of Principle Using an Example of Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy of 251 Meningioma Patients

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to verify the possible benefit of a clinical data warehouse (DWH) for retrospective analysis in the field of radiation oncology.

Material and methods

We manually and electronically (using DWH) evaluated demographic, radiotherapy, and outcome data from 251 meningioma patients, who were irradiated from January 2002 to January 2015 at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Erlangen University Hospital. Furthermore, we linked the Oncology Information System (OIS) MOSAIQ^® to the DWH in order to gain access to irradiation data. We compared the manual and electronic data retrieval method in terms of congruence of data, corresponding time, and personal requirements (physician, physicist, scientific associate).

Results

The electronically supported data retrieval (DWH) showed an average of 93.9% correct data and significantly (p = 0.009) better result compared to manual data retrieval (91.2%). Utilizing a DWH enables the user to replace large amounts of manual activities (668 h), offers the ability to significantly reduce data collection time and labor demand (35 h), while simultaneously improving data quality. In our case, work time for manually data retrieval was 637 h for the scientific assistant, 26 h for the medical physicist, and 5 h for the physician (total 668 h).

Conclusion

Our study shows that a DWH is particularly useful for retrospective analysis in the radiation oncology field. Routine clinical data for a large patient group can be provided ready for analysis to the scientist and data collection time can be significantly reduced. Furthermore, linking multiple data sources in a DWH offers the ability to improve data quality for retrospective analysis, and future research can be simplified.