Author: Andrea Molineu, MS (2026)
Primary advisor: Susan Fenton, PhD
Committee members: Dian Hu, PhD and Todd Johnson, PhD
DHI Translational Project, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston.
ABSTRACT
Imaging Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) is funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). One of the grant requirements is that IROC provides an annual remote independent verification of radiation output for all institutions participating in NCI-sponsored clinical trials. This involves shipping acrylic blocks that hold dosimeters to each of the institutions. Each institution is assigned a month to receive a shipment. However, mailing is often delayed. The goal of sending 100% of the shipments in the month they are scheduled has not been reached. This delays the institutions' independent dose verification. The delay is detrimental because it results in an extended period during which dose delivery problems go undetected and cannot be corrected.
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) method was used to improve the percentage of institutions that receive dosimeters and block shipments in the scheduled month. A needs assessment was conducted to determine the current state. This included workflow observations, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. An improvement plan that utilized evidence-based practices of minimum inventory settings, inventory visualization, and workflow analysis was developed and applied. Hardware improvements were also made. The percentage of shipments shipped in their assigned month increased 78% during the year of the plan implementation. Workflow improvements, combined with inventory visualization practices, enable IROC to find radiation dose discrepancies in a timely manner. Finding the discrepancies promptly allows them to be corrected sooner, resulting in improved patient care. These steps can be applied to other projects in IROC.