Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology Advance Access originally published online on July 15, 2005
Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology 2005 35(8):470-474; doi:10.1093/jjco/hyi129
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© 2005 Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research
Impact of an Electronic Chart on the Staff Workload in a Radiation Oncology Department
Department of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
For reprints and all correspondence: Seung Jae Huh, Department of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center, #50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea. E-mail: sjhuh{at}smc.samsung.co.kr
Received March 24, 2005; accepted June 7, 2005
Background: In order to improve the efficiency of patient care, we developed an electronic medical record system, named the Comprehensive Radiation Oncology Management System (C-ROMS). C-ROMS was used together with a commercial record-and-verify system, LANTIS (Siemens Medical Systems Inc., Concord, CA, USA). The impact of the C-ROMS/LANTIS system on the staff workload in the Radiation Oncology Department was quantified and evaluated.
Methods: Thirty-four breast cancer patients were divided into two groups based on the method of the charting and the delivery of radiation treatment. The paper chart and manual treatment were used for one group, and the C-ROMS/LANTIS for the other. For each group of patients, the workload per patient for each staff group in the departmentnursing/clerical staff, simulation staff, dosimetry/physics staff and technologist staffwas measured and compared.
Results: The average total staff workload with the C-ROMS/LANTIS system was 28.2% less than that with the paper chart/manual treatment method. The workloads for nursing/clerical staff, simulation staff and technologist staff were reduced by 85.7, 61.2 and 20.6%, respectively. The workload for dosimetry/physics staff was increased by 28.4%.
Conclusion: The C-ROMS/LANTIS system significantly decreased the averaged total staff workload, and thus increased the efficiency of patient care.
Key Words: Electronic medical record radiotherapy information system record and verify workload in radiation oncology