Four-year experience with an in-house treatment management platform to streamline departmental operations in radiation oncology.

PURPOSE: To develop and implement an in‑house treatment‑management platform to improve communication, data accessibility, and task tracking across a radiation oncology department.

METHODS

We developed Capsule, a custom software platform that centralizes patient data from the ARIA oncology information system (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, United States), and integrates it with data from Outlook (Microsoft, Redmond, United States), spreadsheets, and manual inputs. Built using C#, SQL, and the .NET framework, it features a graphical interface in XAML with twelve modular tools to support workflows across a large multi-modality department. A formal validation, feedback, and maintenance cycle was established. Its impact on workflow efficiency was evaluated using average CarePath task duration before and after implementation, supplemented by user interviews and surveys.

RESULTS

The Department Schedule, Treatment Planning and On-Treatment Whiteboard, Spreadsheet, and various workload tracking modules emerged as the most frequently used among dosimetrists surveyed.The Whiteboard module consolidates planning metadata for streamlined workflows. Workload and scheduling modules help distribute tasks fairly. The Department Schedule module centralizes daily role and contact information. The Spreadsheet module allows dosimetrists to identify a reference for unique plans and provides secure access to large exportable tabulated patient data and clinical trends. Other modules support proton down-time replanning and special procedure physics assignment. One year after Capsule's implementation, most tasks in the external beam radiation therapy workflow experienced a reduction in average duration.

DISCUSSION: Capsule streamlines workflows by integrating multiple tools into a single platform, supporting urgent scenarios, and improving task hand-off. Its modular design allows customization to local workflows, but implementation must be guided by institutional oversight and formal quality management to ensure data security and compliance.

CONCLUSION

Capsule can provide a solution for improved workflow efficiency, communication, and interdisciplinary coordination. By democratizing access to routine and retrospective data, it supports treatment planning, scheduling, and quality improvement. Ongoing updates are essential as clinical practices evolve.