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. 2022 Aug 13;10(8):1533.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10081533.

Smile InTM Totems in Radiotherapy: Patients' Satisfaction with Limited Equipment and COVID-19

Marzia Borgia  1 , Fiorella Cristina Di Guglielmo  1 , Marco Lucarelli  1 , Rosario Bonelli  1 , Lucrezia Gasparini  1 , Angelo Di Pilla  1 , Lucia Anna Ursini  1 , Maria Taraborrelli  1 , Annamaria Vinciguerra  1 , Antonietta Augurio  1 , Monica Di Tommaso  1 , Marianna Trignani  1 , Marianna Nuzzo  1 , Consuelo Rosa  1   2 , Giuditta Chiloiro  3 , Stephanie Sartori  4 , Lucia Ferrari  4 , Roberta Marchione  4 , Fabio Adalgiso D'Orazio  4 , Paola Di Renzo  4 , Giustino Orlando  4   5 , Domenico Genovesi  1   2 , Luciana Caravatta  1
Affiliations

Smile InTM Totems in Radiotherapy: Patients' Satisfaction with Limited Equipment and COVID-19

Marzia Borgia et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: We report a mono-institutional experience regarding patient-perceived quality regarding the Chieti Radiotherapy Department, through RAMSI (Radiotherapy Amica Mia-SmileINTM(SI)-My Friend RadiotherapySI) project, in critical scenarios of limited equipment and COVID-19.

Material and methods: Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) were assessed as follows: Patient-centric welcome perception (PCWP), Comfort, Professional skills and Punctuality. Patients could give anonymous feedback using HappyOrNot technology through four totems located in strategic areas within the center. An internal benchmark was obtained using the feedback received after a preliminary observation period. The SI Experience Index was collected, analyzed and compared. Weekly and monthly reports were generated.

Results: From February 2019 to February 2022, 8924 patients accessed the department; 17,464 daily treatments were recorded and 5830 points of feedback were collected: 896, 1267, 1125 and 2542 for PCWP, Comfort, Professional skills and Punctuality, respectively. A LINAC decommissioning period was analyzed, with decreases in the SI-Index score and Smile-IN approved percentage and an improvement after this period. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic was analyzed with a mild evaluations decrease for PREM's Welcome, Comfort and Punctuality (Δ-value: -9%, -3% and -4%, respectively), while Professional skills were always optimal.

Conclusion: The RAMSI project was effective for assessing treatment quality perception, allowing for improving clinical procedures with corrective actions. The RAMSI project is ongoing.

Keywords: COVID-19; PREMs; quality of care; radiotherapy; technology assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of a monthly report of patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), SmileIN-approved and SI Index showed inside the department and available for the patients and clinicians.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a–c) Examples of environment’ “humanization” in Radiation Oncology Department of Chieti.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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