A Look Behind Radiation Therapy - Essay Example

There is also a lack of social responsibility from the stakeholders. The manufacturers, medical specialists, technicians fail to realize that they are dealing with human lives of other human beings.

1. What management, organization, and technology factors were responsible for the problems detailed in this case? Explain the role of each.

Radiation accidents are caused by factors categorized into three. First is Management. It is for the management to ensure that there is proper coordination between the oncologist and the machines technicians and make sure all rules are followed.  The use of understaffed, unqualified, and undertrained technicians leads to laxity in the job.

The second is the organizational role. Organizations have no training procedures for the staff who are supposed to use the new machinery to treat cancer patients.

Thirdly is technology.   Improving technology brings about more complex machines used in radiation therapy. System and software updates lead to unpredictable system responses hence increasing these cases.

2. Do you feel that any of the groups involved with this issue (hospital administrators, technicians, and medical equipment and software manufacturers) should accept the majority of the blame for these incidents? Why or why not?

The accidents can be blamed on:

The hospital administrators, who are the ones to lay down the policies. The technicians need to be vigilant and check the equipment and the settings to ensure that it is in line with the treatment plan prescribed by the oncologist. The medical equipment affects the results. Complex machines increase system errors and software manufacturers need to design software that’s easy to use.

3. How would a central reporting agency that gathered data on radiation-related accidents help reduce the number of radiation therapy errors in the future?

The agency should have the mandate of gathering data on all radiation-related accidents from all the hospitals in the states. The data should include the cause of the accident, and what factors led to that accident. The agency should set rules and guidelines on how these accidents are to be investigated. This will make each person responsible for their mistakes and enhance diligence from all players.

4. If you were designing electronic software for a linear accelerator, what are some features you would include? Are there any features you would avoid?

In the design of the linear accelerator software, one key feature is the use of a simple user interface that the technicians can easily navigate through. Secondly the use of an audio error reporting mechanism that would signal the technician in the case of an error.

 One key feature I would not include is that that allows multiple sessions of different radiation to be undertaken at once. I would replace within in that would make the technician use codes that may be provided by oncologists on each case of radiation therapy.

In conclusion, cancer is a big threat to society as a whole but also the increase in radiation accidents may cause the patients to shy away from the therapy. A lot still has to be done to reverse this trend and allow advanced technology to help give life and not take life.