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To provide patients with quality care, teamwork is fundamental to ensure that steps are correctly followed, avoiding errors in the planning stages.  Since plan approval is a critical step, our team focused on assessing common errors and created scripts for preventing them.

Two scripts were developed in 2016 on Aria Oncology System, called Prescription Verification Script (PVS) and Constraints Check Script (CCS). The PVS contains a checklist of the most important aspects to assess once the contouring and prescription process is finished and before starting the treatment planning process in order to identify and correct frequent errors. The CCS reviews the achieved planned doses for PTVs and OARs and evaluates the fulfillment of the dose-volume constraints, thus providing a quick overall review prior to the final plan evaluation. To assess the degree of satisfaction, a survey was conducted to Physicists, Physicians and Dosimetrists within our department.

Since 2017, a total of 9876 patients have been treated, demonstrating a positive impact on patient care. The results show a clear reduction in the incidence of errors, which resulted in increased both quality and treatment safety as well as high overall satisfaction in over 80% of our professionals, summarized in Image 2.

Treatment plan evaluation is an essential task for radiation oncologists, but it is becoming increasingly complex due to modern advances in treatment techniques. Scripting tools reduce contours, prescription variability and errors, therefore, are an effective solution for improving quality management and increasing efficiency.