STATEMENT: SAFE RADIATION THERAPY PROCEDURES AT HENRY FORD
Radiation treatments provide safe and effective benefits to cancer patients. The Henry Ford Department of Radiation Oncology employs a comprehensive quality assurance program, involving multiple checks and balances, to ensure that patients receive the safest and highest quality of radiation therapy.
Examples of procedures and safety checks developed at Henry Ford:
Radiation treatment plans are always checked and verified by a different planner from the one who created the plan. Henry Ford has a dedicated team of experts working to create the best plan for each patient, and a highly qualified team of physicists that checks each plan before treatment starts.
The doctor’s approval is verified by a program that checks the treatment parameters independently from the original treatment planning software, and alerts the treatment planner and a physicist if the parameters are inaccurate or outside tolerance levels.
The physics team performs regular quality tests of the linear accelerator equipment to assure it is functioning at the highest level. Required daily checks of the radiation output and important mechanical parameters are performed every morning prior to treatments.
A complete set of notes is maintained for every patient and treatment to assure that all devices are used correctly. Radiation therapists consult these instructions daily before treating a patient.
Before beginning a treatment, a “Time Out” procedure is performed and documented. During the procedure, the radiation therapist verifies the correct patient, type of treatment, and treatment site (with attention to which side of the body will be treated). The Time Out procedure, similar to the process done before surgery, is a rather unique feature of the Henry Ford Radiation Oncology Department, which was established years ago.
Prior to treatment, images of the areas to be treated are verified to assure that the correct part of the body is being targeted.
During the treatment, the patient and plan are monitored closely by a team of radiation therapists.
An electronic log is maintained of all treatment details for every patient and reviewed by the physics team to detect any possible differences between the planned and delivered doses.
Any change in the planning and treatment process is recorded and reported to the departmental Quality Assurance Committee, the radiation oncologist and a physics team member. The QA committee reviews each variance at monthly meetings as part of an ongoing quality improvement process.
