UTTechMedCHOIRNewsNew CHOIR publication on Radiotherapy Logistics

New CHOIR publication on Radiotherapy Logistics

CHOIR new publication on Radiotherapy Logistics

A study conducted by CHOIR members Bruno Vieira, Derya Demirtas, and Erwin W. Hans on the radiotherapy pre-treatment process showed that scheduling a patient's start of treatment right after first consultation (pull strategy) as opposed to when the all pre-treatment workflow (CT,MRI,PET-CT,etc.) has been completed (push strategy) can potentially minimize the number of patients breaching the national waiting time targets by 41%. Using discrete-event simulation to mimic the radiotherapy process considering fluctuations in patient inflow, the authors were able to test alternative interventions and run several "what-if" scenarios. They verified that a hybrid (40% pull / 60% push) strategy representing the current practice leads to 12% lower average waiting times and 48% fewer first appointment rebooks when compared to a (possible) full pull strategy, which in turn could lead to 41% fewer patients breaching the Dutch target standards. 

The full paper is available 'Open access' via the following link: https://bmcmedinformdecismak.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12911-019-0910-0