title: The equivalent simple treatment visit (ESTV) model does not measure radiation oncology productivity under Australian conditions.
abstract: The measurement of workload in radiation oncology departments has been based on the number of patients treated per linear accelerator per unit time, or on the number of fields treated per linear accelerator per unit time. The Equivalent Simple Treatment Visit (ESTV) model was proposed to allow for the incorporation of a factor for complexity of treatment techniques, to permit more detailed comparisons than those offered by previous measures. This prospective study was designed to assess the suitability of the ESTV model as a measure of radiation oncology productivity within an Australian radiation oncology department. A calculated ESTV value was assigned to all treatment fractions delivered in our department over a 4-week period. Treatment fractions were then timed using a stopwatch, and average treatment times for simple, intermediate and complex techniques were calculated and analysed by multiple t-tests for statistical significance. Average treatment times were 8.1 minutes (standard deviation (SD) = 4.2) for 'simple' techniques, 14.1 minutes (SD = 4.4) for 'intermediate' techniques, and 11.8 minutes (SD = 5.6) for 'complex' techniques. These times were significantly different from each other (P < 0.05). Although ESTV attempts to allow for the incorporation of a complexity factor into productivity reporting, a revision of the model is necessary, given the inconsistency by which a 'complex' technique takes significantly less time than an 'intermediate' technique.
authors.affiliation: Liverpool Hospital, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Delaney
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gebski
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rus
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Manderson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langlands
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004526:Efficiency; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*