Premium
TH‐E‐211‐01: Economics of Light Ion Teletherapy
Author(s) -
Moyers M
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.4736344
Subject(s) - salary , reimbursement , investment (military) , population , computer science , medicine , economics , political science , health care , environmental health , politics , law , market economy , economic growth
Treatment of patients with beams of light ions (including protons) began in 1954. Despite the dosimetric advantages of these beams, 58 years later less than 1% of patients treated with radiation in the United States currently receive light ion teletherapy. This is primarily due to the large initial investment needed to construct light ion facilities. This course will provide the audience with example estimates of equipment, construction, maintenance, and salary costs along with projections of estimated reimbursement over the lifetime of the equipment. Comparisons of individual project costs will be given to demonstrate which items have the most impact on project success. Several example methods for reducing both the operating costs and initial costs will be presented including a brief discussion of new technology. Some cost reduction measures, however, can result in decreased performance which may affect the patient population that may be treated. Several cost/performance tradeoff examples will bepresented. Learning Objectives: 1. Become familiar with estimated costs associated with starting and operating a light ion teletherapy facility. 2. Become familiar with the relative costs of various items important for the success of a project. 3. Become familiar with tradeoffs in performance for various cost saving methods.