Presented by Daniel W. Bailey, PhD, DABR
Director of Physics and Dosimetry
Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare

Changes and advances in technology, workflow, record keeping, and other vital areas of radiation therapy cause an evolution in the challenge of treatment safety. Some of these challenges gained national attention in 2010-2012 through mainstream media spotlighting individual cases of catastrophic error. But for each individual accident reported, there are many more that go unreported or even unrealized. Evolving safety concerns present challenges that must be tackled by the entire multidisciplinary team that provides radiation treatments, from physicians to dosimetrists to therapists to physicists. How common are errors in treatment delivery? Does patient-specific QA really address all errors that might occur? Can we fix all errors with just one new QA policy or procedure? Are advanced, high-tech treatments really the source of the problem? In this webinar, we examine these and other timely questions to address the individual roles of every member of the radiation therapy team to engineer and optimize patient safety.

Learner Outcomes

1. Discuss current and ongoing challenges to Radiation Therapy Quality and Safety.
2. Describe the frequency of Radiation Therapy medical incidents, including obstacles to comprehensive reporting.
3. List current resources from national and international professional organizations to help improve patient safety in Radiation Oncology.

Presenter:
Daniel W. Bailey, PhD, DABR, is Director of Physics and Dosimetry for Sarah Cannon, the Cancer Institute of HCA Healthcare.  He completed his graduate degrees (in Physics) and clinical residency (in Medical Physics, Radiation Therapy) at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Podgorsak. His greatest area of interest and research is in multi-disciplinary approaches to improving quality, safety, and efficiency in Radiation Oncology. On the national level, Dr. Bailey serves on a number of medical physics committees for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists, and the American Board of Radiology, and also serves on the Board of Editors of the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics.

Educational Level: Entry Level

ARRT CQR Credit Distribution
Registered Radiologist Assistant - 2018 
Patient Care
                Patient Management = 0.25
Registered Radiologist Assistant - 2023 
Patient Care
                Patient Management = 0.25
Radiation Therapy - 2017             
Patient Care
                Patient and Medical Record Management = 0.50
Radiation Therapy - 2022             
Patient Care
                Patient and Medical Record Management = 0.50
Proton Therapy - 2019  
Safety
                Radiation Physics/Equipment/Quality Assurance = 0.25
Radiation Therapy - 2017             
Safety
                Radiation Physics, Equipment, and Quality Assurance = 0.25
Radiation Therapy – 2022
Safety
                Radiation Protection, Equipment Operation, and Quality Assurance = 0.25