Three-dimensional (3D) radiation therapy treatment planning (RTTP) offers an unparalleled opportunity to accurately define tumor volumes in the cancer patient which leads to highly targeted radiation therapy. This technology is slowly becoming the standard of care in radiation therapy, mainly through the efforts of academic centers. To stay competitive community hospitals must respond. The ultimate value of 3-D RTTP must come from the continuation of 3-D dose escalation and toxicity studies. Community hospital data can play an important role in these studies because the majority of cancer patients are treated in Community settings. Technology transfer from academic centers to the community has not been sufficient or cost effective. The expense if capital equipment and the lack of experienced personnel to implement 3-D has proved prohibitive to establishing 3-D. THREE Ts innovative business concept of out-sourcing advanced treatment planning to community sites as a service has been steadfast in providing a safe and economical alternative.
Specific aims : * Refine and develop quality assurance and commissioning standards for data from the community sites using remote RTTP services. * Complete and implement electronic data transfer methods from community hospital sites. * Enable inclusion of community hospital data into 3-D protocol data collection.
The current market forces in health care of consolidation creates a need for community hospitals to find alternatives enabling them access to state-of-the-art treatment options to remain competitive. The research and development of the service proposed by THREE T will provide community hospitals with a low cost method to offer patients access to the latest technological innovations in radiation therapy treatment planning.
