Workflow Wins: Embracing Automation When Every Moment Counts

At times, we all feel the pressure of a busy clinic. When the patient plans, weekly chart checks, and special procedures stack high, it might feel natural to keep your head down and plow forward. It may seem like implementing a new product or software should wait until uncertainty subsides and things return to baseline.

But it might actually be advantageous during times of overwhelm to install a new product if it promises significant time savings and efficiency. If new approaches confer the benefits that the following clinics experienced after installation, what’s the point in waiting?

Kentucky Department Leverages the Power of EZFluence

As detailed in a case study, a department in Kentucky found that immediate implementation of EZFluence in an uncertain environment paid quick dividends. Getting started required minimal effort, and they discovered that EZFluence was incredibly user-friendly, requiring very simple inputs like coverage and hot spot goals. Planning “takes just minutes with EZFluence. We make sure the open fields cover our target anatomy and let EZFluence take care of the rest.” 

The planning team realized the utility of EZFluence very early, as they planned as many breast patients in May as they did in January—only it took 15 fewer hours to complete the same work. By quickly working EZFluence into their 3D planning routine, they regained control of their time when they needed it most.

The above correlation shows that as the utilization of EZFluence for 3D planning increased over several months in 2020, the time required to produce a similar caseload decreased by almost half. 

“The ROI for this product, given the little up-front work required to implement, is incredible.” -Medical Physicist

Rocky Mountain Clinical Team Doubles Down With EZFluence and AutoContour

The dosimetry team at a Rocky Mountain clinic felt slightly understaffed, working through their patient load with two dosimetrists. They were in the process of hiring a third dosimetrist and planning to commission and implement EZFluence once their staff was at full capacity. Waiting to dedicate the time to the project until after they hired an additional dosimetrist felt more manageable, even if bringing the software on would ultimately result in an efficiency gain. Unfortunately, while searching for an additional dosimetrist, the team lost one of their current dosimetrists. As a result, they decided to take the leap to implement EZFluence, hoping to make things more manageable with a single dosimetrist. 

With approximately 30% of their patient census as breast cases, they knew that EZFluence had the potential to really help with efficiency.  A physicist at the center explains, “Radformation staff was extremely helpful in helping us get up and running quickly with EZFluence. Our dosimetry team found immediate relief, and our physicians were very pleased with the quality of the plans.”

One year later, the team was again at full dosimetry staffing levels. In the meantime, their patient census continued to rise, having doubled over a 3-year span, which left their dosimetry team again feeling very busy.  In the midst of this time period, AutoContour, Radformation’s deep-learning auto segmentation software, was just released to the market. Given the positive impact of EZFluence, the team made the decision to trial AutoContour in their clinic. 

According to the physicist, implementing AutoContour was very straightforward, and installation “went smoothly and helped a lot right away, saving between 10-45 minutes per patient when creating contours.” As for the impact of these software solutions in the department currently, “I feel confident that Radformation products increase the safety and efficiency of our clinical processes and patient treatments,” she says.

QuickCode Implementation Success Story

Aspirus, a collection of five centers in central Wisconsin, implemented QuickCode for two reasons:

1. The staff was looking for efficiency with billing code reconciliation. 
2. They were already familiar with Radformation software, which had exceeded their expectations.

The therapists were spending significant amounts of time verifying daily treatment charges as they do, and they knew there was a better way.  Launching QuickCode in the clinic required collaboration with local IT resources and deliberate planning to establish appropriate billing templates, but Aspirus found Radformation’s support resources incredibly helpful in the process.

The benefits of implementing QuickCode have been significant for Aspirus. What used to take the lead therapist a full day to check now takes only 10-15 minutes. According to physicist Mark Guerts, “As we continue to use the product, we’ve seen the number of missed charges identified decrease significantly compared to when we got started. My interpretation is that our department’s process is much more accurate and better conforms to billing guidelines.”

While the implementation process required a focused effort to establish templates, the overall result has been well worth any effort. The team at Aspirus has been extremely pleased with the success of QuickCode and its ability to improve its workflow, and has realized time savings that translate into happier staff. According to Mark Guerts, “The therapists immediately fell in love with it.”

Radfomation’s Success Team FTW ✌️

When the time is right to bring new solutions on board, Radformation’s Clinical Success Team is ready to make the process as smooth and productive as possible.  Initial training and support for all products are always available when needed, and clinical templates—both stock and custom—are offered to propel departments toward fast implementation.

Customer success managers may even check in on departments after installation to ensure complete adoption of the software.  According to Kari Beach, Director of Clinical Success, “With ClearCheck, for example, we’ll try to provide more information about other features a site might not be using to the fullest extent, like collision and physics checks. There may be opportunities to use the software to a greater extent, and ideally, every clinic gets the most out of the software.” 

“I absolutely LOVE Radformation support. Their team is consistently exceptional, knowledgeable, and helpful.” -Medical Physicist, Seattle, WA.