(Sunday, 7/14/2019)
Room: ePoster Forums
Purpose: To report on the 3-year impact of using a centralized database system for major equipment QA at a large institution.
Methods: A centralized database system has been implemented at our institution, which consists of 7 campuses with 14 CTs and 26 linacs. The database system is customized to manage all CT and linac QA. This includes providing the same set of QA procedures across the institution network, storing all measurement records and generating trend analyses. Compared to conventional methods (i.e. paper and spreadsheets), the effectiveness of the database system was quantified by changes in the compliance of QA tests and perceptions of staff to the efficiency of QA data retrieval and analyses. An anonymized questionnaire was provided to the physicists campus-wide (n = 16) to assess workflow changes.
Results: With the implementation of the database system, the compliance of QA test completion improved from 78% to 100% for the entire institution. This resonates with the 56% of physicists who found the database system helpful in guiding them through the QA procedures, while 25% of physicists don’t find it helpful and 19% report no difference compared to paper forms. Meanwhile, 40% of physicists report longer times needed to use the database system to record data compared to conventional methods, and another 40% suggest otherwise. 87% found the database more efficient to analyze data and 80% agree that it is easier to retrieve previous data. This is also reflected by the shorter time taken to generate year-end QA statistics using the software (5 vs. 30 min per linac). Overall, 94% of physicists preferred the centralized database system over conventional methods and endorsed continued use of the system.
Conclusion: Overall, a centralized database system is useful and can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of QA management in a large institution.
Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: This research was funded in part through the NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA008748.
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