Radiation Oncology News Briefs
Management Moment: To find out the consensus on whether it is appropriate to bill two complex plans “when treating a breast with a supraclav and pab,” access the SROA Listserv archives under "Member Network" at left.
Miscarriage and Stillbirth Rates Higher Among Women Survivors of Childhood Cancer Treated With Radiation
The risk of stillbirth is significantly greater among female childhood cancer survivors treated with radiation therapy that overlaps the ovaries and uterus, according to a July 23, 2010, study published in the The Lancet. Read more ...
Physicians Seek Greater Clinical Detail From Medical Research Articles
Only 11 percent of 262 scientific articles in five prominent medical journals studied by University of Florida researchers contained enough information to aid in treatment, according to a University of Florida Shands Cancer Center press release. Read more ...
SROA Advocacy Patient Safety Questions
The recent series of New York Times articles about safety lapses and regulatory shortfalls in the radiation oncology field is likely to have created some unwarranted concern among patients who are candidates for radiation treatment. Although each radiation therapy treatment team has many safety checks and procedures to ensure that each treatment is given as planned, some patients and caregivers might have technical questions about radiation therapy. For those interested in the technical aspects of radiation, SROA has prepared questions (and responses) a patient may wish to ask their radiation oncologist about quality assurance at the program they will be receiving therapy. Please talk to your patients about the safety protocols at your facility. You also can encourage patients to visit www.rtanswers.org for a list of questions they might wish to ask about their treatments. SROA's Advocacy Committee has compiled patient safety questions and answers so your practice will be ready to ease patient concerns.
Click Here to Download SROA's Patient Safety Questions and Answers.
For more on patient safety view ASTRO's six-point patient safety plan. Click Here to view ASTRO's six point plan.
The SROA Advocacy Committee prepared a statement, which Congressman Myrick will introduce at the House Subcommittee on Health hearing on Medical Radiation - An Overview of the Issues, February 26, 2010.
New York Times Addresses Quality of Radiation Treatment
The New York Times has published recently several articles on radiation therapy.
Responses from major professional societies: ASTRO;
ASRT; AAPM; and SROA.
Click here for additional talking points regarding the safety of radiation therapy.
2009 SROA Annual Meeting Presentations
Those presentations for which SROA has received permission from the presenter to post are in the Members Network (Annual Meeting Presentations) module of the website. If there is a presentation that you would like and it is not posted, please contact the presenter directly for a copy. Jim Hugh's presentation Updates for 2009 and Further Into the Future (#032) is posted or you can contact Jim at james.hugh@amac-usa.com. NOTE: Because of the file size and/or amount of graphics, some presentations will take several minutes time to load.
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