Manhasset, N.Y.-based North Shore-LIJ Health System's department of radiation medicine has developed a multidisciplinary peer-review process for radiation oncology treatment plans to improve their safety for individual patients, according to a report from Red Orbit.
The program, called "Smart Rounds," is a review of a patient's treatment plan among a team of physicians, nurses, medical physicists and radiation therapists before care actually begins. The team reviews the treatment plan to verify that it is the best option for the patient for which it is intended.
Results of a pilot study of the technique show that Smart Rounds maximizes radiation efficiency and reduces errors that can often occur when patient treatment plans are given only a perfunctory review, which is a danger in radiation therapy, according to a news release.
Case study findings were presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Radiation Oncology this week.
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