QA Management in a Diverse Multicenter Institution
Description
Quality management at multicenter institutions takes on unique challenges when compared to that at standalone sites. With the trend towards institutions merging, the climate within several physics departments is taking on a new paradigm—quality assurance cannot occur in a vacuum but must be subjected to a standardized protocol that makes room for cross-coverage, automation, follow-up, accountability, and external audits. Moreover, with the national shortage of medical physicists and limited resources, an emphasis must be placed on efficiency and cutting costs where feasible. These are not trivial goals considering the diverse training backgrounds and interests of individual physicists. Nonetheless a culture of compliance must be fostered to achieve high standards which ultimately lead to high quality patient care. In this session we will look at the quality management styles of two large institutions—a mature nationally renowned program, and one that is dynamically changing and on the rise. Both institutions have seven clinical sites and have been involved with several “one of the first implementations” in the US, including online adaptive, single-room proton with FLASH, ARIA V18.0 upgrade, and automated chart checking. We will discuss strategies to standardize complex workflows which comply with AAPM recommendations. These strategies include in-house developments which substitute or complement vendor platforms and reduce the cost of operation. We also include methods for constant engagement, collaboration, development, and free flow of ideas, which lead to more accountability, an increased ability to closely monitor the status of all QA processes and cater to ancillary needs.