Academic/Industry Collaborative Partnership In Treatment Plan Check Automation
Abstract
Purpose
Automation in external beam radiotherapy chart checks improves standardization, efficiency, and error reduction. Our academic institution, consisting of approximately 200 users over 7 campuses, partnered with a vendor to integrate institution-developed automated plan checks into an existing commercial platform, aiming to combine full customization with commercial-grade user experience (UX), security, and stability.
Methods
Stakeholders co-developed a staged integration roadmap. The academic partner identified commercial checkers to adopt and custom checks to migrate to existing commercial analogues while retaining full control over the remaining custom checkers. The vendor implemented a flexible, secure framework that could later be scaled to additional partners. The impact of the clinical deployment of the integrated tool was measured by tracking the number of institutionally maintained custom checkers over time and documenting clinical workflow changes.
Results
A combined report of commercial and institution-specific checks was released 6 months after initiation of the co-development collaboration. The number of institutionally maintained custom checkers decreased from 105 to 94 (10.5%) while the total number of automated checks performed increased to 147. The combined commercial and institutional checker report documentation is automatically uploaded into the patient’s record in the treatment management system. A subsequent stage of integration, which results in a fully integrated experience for the user while maintaining support for custom needs at the institution-level, has been fully developed and tested to follow the vendor’s pending regulatory approval process. The commercial-grade stability of the integrated tool has already facilitated a treatment planning system version upgrade and has created bandwidth for the institutional development of 9 new custom checkers in support of innovations in plan safety and automation and adaptive radiotherapy.
Conclusion
This collaboration enables the retention of complete institutional customization while leveraging professional UX, stability, and security to the benefit of both parties.