QA data management and reporting take a lot of time and energy, regardless of whether this concerns the annual audit or daily quality assurance tasks. Clean and efficient data management is often difficult if QA data is distributed over several locations or is only available in handwritten or paper form. Protocol templates must be updated when regulations change and made immediately available on each linear accelerator in operation. Critical parameters need to be carefully monitored to detect deviations at an early stage. As a browser-based data management platform, Track-it helps to address these challenges.

Since 2018, Track-it has been in use at Marien Hospital Düsseldorf to simplify daily operations. Because the system is browser-based, it can be accessed and operated by any authorized site user at any time using any end device, whether PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. Data can even be entered offline in the treatment room, e.g., via a tablet, and is automatically transferred to Track-it when the network is available again, which is a big advantage.

All QA data is kept in a central database, automatically structured, readable and compliant to national and/or internal standards (e.g., DIN or AAPM TG-142). This makes it easy to maintain an overview of completed and pending QA tasks. As a result, all tests are now accomplished much more efficiently. Measurement results can be found quickly via convenient search functions or saved filters. The trend function helps to detect subtle but important changes in tolerances and deviations from expected values, so appropriate action can be taken before standards are violated.

Currently, only the medical physics team at Marien Hospital Düsseldorf is using the digital logbook function in Track-it. In the future, however, the radiologists/dosimetrists (MTRA) should also be able to make entries into the digital logbook. Paper documentation on the clinic’s linear accelerators will then become completely superfluous as all information recorded in the logbook will then be available digitally at all times. The digital logbook is particularly useful when troubleshooting, e.g., in the event that an error message occurs at an accelerator and it is not immediately apparent whether the message is appearing for the first time or repeatedly.