Quality assurance in a Radiation Oncology Unit: The Chart Round experience

Abstract

Quality assurance ensures that planned treatments eventuate. Programmes must include feedback loops to promptly correct any shortfall in predetermined standards. In March 1999, a weekly Chart Round was introduced to verify that certain items relevant to quality care were being completed for patients of the Head and Neck Radiotherapy Unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. The experience was reviewed after 1 year and it was found that the initiation of Chart Rounds has assisted in raising the level of item completion from 80% to 99% in similar groups of patients treated before and after the initiation of the Chart Round. Initiation of the Chart Round has also provided a useful forum for in-house peer-review, education and effective real-time communication between medical and allied health personnel, all of which has further added to the quality of patient care.

Enhancing the role of case-oriented peer review to improve quality and safety in radiation oncology: Executive summary

“…These peer review audit tools have evolved over time in response, in part to systematic assessments of their reproducibility 4 . Such tools have the potential to improve practice quality, to alter patient management, 4-6 and to provide an effective means to document changes in patient management 7 . The experiences of these groups, and components of their existing audit tools, may prove useful in future initiatives.…”

Impact of a real‐time peer review audit on patient management in a radiation oncology department

“…Several different audit tools have been assessed in the literature 6–9 . In 2004, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) introduced an audit tool as a quality‐improvement instrument.…”

Importance of patient examination to clinical quality assurance in head and neck radiation oncology

“…1,[6][7][8][9] At these occasions, the treating physician gives a brief clinical summary and, perhaps, a brief presentation review of a patient's treatment films and data. This allows review of treatment portals, and a formal opportunity, often with checklists, to ensure that required documentation is completed.…”