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Effective radiotherapy for cancer treatment requires precise and reproducible positioning of patients at linear accelerators. Assistance systems in digitally networked radiotherapy can help involved specialists perform these tasks more efficiently and accurately. This paper analyses patient positioning systems and develops new knowledge by applying the Design Science Research methodology. A systematic literature review ensures the rigour of the research. Furthermore, this article presents the results of an online survey on assistance systems for patient positioning, the derived design requirements and an artefact in the form of a conceptual model of a patient positioning system. Both the systematic literature review and the online survey serve as empirical evidence for the conceptual model. This paper thereby contributes to broadening the academic knowledge on patient positioning in radiotherapy and provides guidance to system designers., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Shortage of general practitioners (GP) is a challenge worldwide, not only in Europe, but also in countries like New Zealand. Providing primary care in rural areas is especially challenging. In order to support decision makers, it is necessary to first assess the current GP coverage and then to determine different scenarios and plans for the future. In this paper, we first present a thorough overview of related literature on locating GP practices. Second, we propose an approach for assessing the GP coverage and determining future GP locations based on a genetic algorithm framework. As a use case, we have chosen the rural New Zealand region of Northland. We also perform a sensitivity analysis for the main input parameters., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2023 The Operational Research Society.)

Increasing efficiency and reducing risk in radiotherapy cancer treatment is of high importance. User assistance systems within a digitally connected radiotherapy environment can support all involved professionals to perform their individual tasks faster and better. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of radiotherapy workflows and a corresponding process modelling in order to identify hypothetical user assistance systems for specific process activities. In addition, the results of an empirical study on the identified systems are presented together with derived requirements and design principles for these systems. A structured online survey with 50 medical physicists in Germany has been conducted. Among others the acceptance, the increase of perceived efficiency and the risk reduction while using the assistance systems are analysed and discussed. The results support the creation of value adding user assistance systems for radiotherapy that improve efficiency, reduce treatment risks and reach high user acceptance levels., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© Operational Research Society 2020.)