Safety in Radiation Therapy — A Call to Action" — Meeting Overview
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Radiation Oncology News Briefs
Management Moment: The issue that drew the most responses this week on the SROA Listserve involved the need for an onsite radiation oncologist and the issue of overtime pay for radiation therapists on weekends. To access the outcome of this discussion, tap the archives under “Member Services.”
AHRQ Offers Insight Into Anti-nausea Medications for Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy
Greater use of aprepitant, an oral anti-nausea medicine, is indicated when it is combined with other anti-emetic medications for preventing the nausea and vomiting caused by cancer treatments, according to a technology assessment report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Read more ...
AHRQ Study Calls for Disclosing Medical Mistakes That Involve Multiple Patients
Health care organizations that experience medical mistakes affecting multiple patients should disclose the mistakes even when patents were not harmed, according to an AHRQ-funded research paper published in the Sept. 2, 2010, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. 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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