title: The exchange of radiotherapy data as part of an electronic patient-referral system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the implementation and use of an electronic patient-referral system as an aid to the efficient referral of patients to a remote and specialized treatment center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A system for the exchange of radiotherapy data between different commercial planning systems and a specially developed planning system for proton therapy has been developed through the use of the PAPYRUS diagnostic image standard as an intermediate format. To ensure the cooperation of the different TPS manufacturers, the number of data sets defined for transfer has been restricted to the three core data sets of CT, VOIs, and three-dimensional dose distributions. As a complement to the exchange of data, network-wide application-sharing (video-conferencing) technologies have been adopted to provide methods for the interactive discussion and assessment of treatments plans with one or more partner clinics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Through the use of evaluation plans based on the exchanged data, referring clinics can accurately assess the advantages offered by proton therapy on a patient-by-patient basis, while the practicality or otherwise of the proposed treatments can simultaneously be assessed by the proton therapy center. Such a system, along with the interactive capabilities provided by video-conferencing methods, has been found to be an efficient solution to the problem of patient assessment and selection at a specialized treatment center, and is a necessary first step toward the full electronic integration of such centers with their remotely situated referral centers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Medicine, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. tony.lomax@psi.ch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lomax
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grossmann
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cozzi
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Tercier
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Boehringer
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Logean
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Volken
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ratib
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Miralbell
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D004582:Electronics, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D011873:Radiology Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D013685:Telecommunications / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards