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WE‐G‐BRC‐00: Experiences with TG100 in Clinical Use
Author(s) -
Kim Grace GweYa
Publication year - 2016
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 - 10.1118/1.4957961
Subject(s) - failure mode and effects analysis , context (archaeology) , session (web analytics) , computer science , risk analysis (engineering) , quality (philosophy) , task (project management) , patient safety , quality management , fidelity , plan (archaeology) , medical physics , process management , medicine , systems engineering , operations management , reliability engineering , engineering , management system , health care , paleontology , philosophy , telecommunications , epistemology , world wide web , economics , biology , economic growth , history , archaeology
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) originated as an industrial engineering technique used for risk management and safety improvement of complex processes. In the context of radiotherapy, the AAPM Task Group 100 advocates FMEA as the framework of choice for establishing clinical quality management protocols. However, there is concern that widespread adoption of FMEA in radiation oncology will be hampered by the perception that implementation of the tool will have a steep learning curve, be extremely time consuming and labor intensive, and require additional resources. To overcome these preconceptions and facilitate the introduction of the tool into clinical practice, the medical physics community must be educated in the use of this tool and the ease in which it can be implemented. Organizations with experience in FMEA should share their knowledge with others in order to increase the implementation, effectiveness and productivity of the tool. This session will include a brief, general introduction to FMEA followed by a focus on practical aspects of implementing FMEA for specific clinical procedures including HDR brachytherapy, physics plan review and radiosurgery. A description of common equipment and devices used in these procedures and how to characterize new devices for safe use in patient treatments will be presented. This will be followed by a discussion of how to customize FMEA techniques and templates to one's own clinic. Finally, cases of common failure modes for specific procedures (described previously) will be shown and recommended intervention methodologies and outcomes reviewed. Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the general concept of failure mode and effect analysis 2. Learn how to characterize new equipment for safety 3. Be able to identify potential failure modes for specific procedures and learn mitigation techniques 4. Be able to customize FMEA examples and templates for use in any clinic