SIU's Medical Dosimetry Program Receives $100,000 Technology Grant for "Quality Reports [EMR]"

CARBONDALE, Ill., July 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Canis Lupus LLC, a medical device manufacturer and design firm specializing in radiation therapy innovation, announced it has awarded a technology grant to the Medical Dosimetry Program offered at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The grant, worth $100,000 per year, begins August 2013 with SIU's incoming dosimetry class, and will be renewed for each incoming class.  All students and faculty in the program will receive licenses for Quality Reports [EMR]™ which is a powerful software solution that integrates with commercial radiation therapy planning systems and generates customized, meaningful use EMR reports for radiation therapy.

The Quality Reports software gives immediate, quantitative feedback to medical dosimetrists to gauge their performance in reaching the clinical goals. It is an "enabling technology" that allows dosimetrists to: 1) measure and document performance for each unique treatment plan in comparison to the physician's goals, 2) mitigate the risk of omission during plan analysis, and 3) trend progress over many treatment plans, enabling and inspiring continual improvement.

Quality Reports is the same technology used for the popular "Plan Challenge" – an annual study conducted by Radiation Oncology Resources, Inc. (ROR) in conjunction with the American Association of Medical Dosimetrist.

Program Director K. Scott Collins, Ph.D., RT(R)(T), CMD says:  "This software will be a great tool to improve the planning skills of our students.  It will make them aware of the maximum achievable plan quality and indicate which metrics can be improved.  This information will add great value to the learning process."

SIU's Medical Dosimetry Program is a year-long, intensive program consisting of lectures, clinical rotations, group interaction, and preparation for professional certification. The Quality Reports technology will be incorporated not only into the clinical rotations, but also the lectures, as many aspects of modern radiation therapy are easily taught using the interactive software.

Benjamin Nelms, Ph.D, founder of Canis Lupus LLC, adds: "In working with the leadership team at SIU's program, we agreed it would be great to get the Quality Reports technology into the students' hands during their professional training. The software platform, in addition to being a powerful assessment tool, is also an intuitive learning environment. When the students graduate and enter the dosimetry workforce, they can hit the ground running with added confidence."

SOURCE Radiation Oncology Resources