Implementation and Evaluation of an Offline RPA-Based Scheduling Visualization Tool for Radiotherapy Under Security Constraints.

Timely access to radiotherapy appointment information remains challenging in hospitals—including many in Japan—due to fragmented information systems and strict security policies restricting access to databases or application programming interfaces (API). We developed an offline robotic process autom...

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Publicado en:Journal of Medical Systems Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 1 - 6
Autores principales: Ito, Takuya, Takeo, Ryuhei
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature 8/7/2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: 8/7/2025
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        10.1007/s10916-025-02238-4
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        atl: Implementation and Evaluation of an Offline RPA-Based Scheduling Visualization Tool for Radiotherapy Under Security Constraints.
      aug:
        au:
          Ito, Takuya
          Takeo, Ryuhei
        affil: Department of Radiotherapy Quality Management, Sanshikai Tomei Atsugi Hospital, Atsugi, Japan
      sug:
        subj:
          Implementation Science
          Robotics
          Automation
          Workflow
          Software
          Radiotherapy
          Appointments and Schedules
          Access to Information
          Radiology Information Systems
          Data Security
          Human
          Japan
          Hospital Policies
          Graphical User Interface
          Electronic Health Records
          Tomography, X-Ray Computed
          Simulations
          Community Health Centers
          Descriptive Statistics
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Workload
          Treatment Errors Prevention and Control
          Information Technology
          Productivity
      ab: Timely access to radiotherapy appointment information remains challenging in hospitals—including many in Japan—due to fragmented information systems and strict security policies restricting access to databases or application programming interfaces (API). We developed an offline robotic process automation (RPA) workflow that captures scheduling data directly from the graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of the electronic medical record (EMR) and radiology information system (RIS) consolidating new-patient consultations, computed tomography (CT) simulations, and first-fraction irradiation sessions into a color-coded, four-week Excel calendar. The robot, scripted using the no-code KEYENCE RK-10 environment, logs into each application, applies rule-based filters, exports comma-separated-values (CSV) files, and populates a pre-formatted template without requiring any back-end modifications. During a two-week deployment at a community radiotherapy center, each weekday run finished in a median 3.9 min [inter-quartile range, IQR 3.1–4.8 min] and listed 36 appointments (16 consultations, five CTs, and 15 first-fraction irradiations). Two discrepancies compared to a legacy whiteboard revealed manual omissions. A semi-structured survey of 12 staff members recorded the highest Likert score [median 5.0, IQR 4.0–5.0] for reductions in documentation time, perceived workload, and error frequency in favor of the RPA implementation. This lightweight GUI-level approach provides a secure and rapidly deployable solution for small- to medium-sized radiotherapy centers operating under stringent information-technology (IT) policies, enhancing scheduling accuracy and staff efficiency without database integration. EMR, RPA, Radiation Therapy, Automation, Visualization.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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