Funding for Projects in Hazard Reduction and Patient Safety in Radiation Medicine.
A generous grant of $30,000 from the National Patient Safety Foundation has enabled the NPSF and the AAPM to partner in promoting research and development activities in the area of hazard reduction and patient safety in radiation medicine. The task of developing the criteria for funding and evaluating applications was delegated to the AAPM's Working Group on the Prevention of Errors in Radiation Oncology. A committee comprising Peter Dunscombe (chair), Eric Hendee, William Hendee, Eric Klein and Bruce Thomadsen was formed to carry out these tasks with a deadline for the conclusion of the selection process of the 2007 Annual Meeting of the AAPM. A call for proposals was emailed to all AAPM members on 14th March with a deadline for submissions of 1st June 2007. By the deadline, 7 applications had been received. The five person committee evaluated each application by assigning numerical scores in the following categories: Compliance with the RFP, Background Preparation, Originality, Potential Impact, Applicants' Productivity and Likelihood of Success. One member of the committee was in a potential conflict of interest with respect to one application and did not participate in the evaluation of that particular proposal. At a telephone conference held on 13th July, the committee met to reach its decision. The numerical scores, previously and independently assigned, were used to facilitate the discussion and not to determine a ranking.
The committee selected the following three projects (in alphabetical order of the PI) for funding:
• Mohammad Islam et al. Princess Margaret Hospital. "Improving patient safety during radiation therapy through human factors methods."
Sasa Mutic et al. Washington University. "An error reporting and tracking database tool for process improvement in radiation oncology."
Lee Myers et al. Johns Hopkins Hospital. "Assessment of suggested changes from failure modes and effects analysis of an external beam radiotherapy process map."
Each project was funded at the requested amount.
All the applications were of a very high quality and the committee acknowledges the effort and commitment of all applicants to this important area of activity.
Through this initiative, the interest of all applicants and many others within our community, we can further enhance the already very high standards of safety in radiation therapy.
Peter DunscombeTom Baker Cancer Centre
