A Simple Method of Follow-up, Disease Indexing, and Filing of Radiation Therapy Records

Abstract

Many systems have been suggested for filing records of radiotherapeutic procedures and of indexing the diseases so treated. None are perfect. The one to be presented here is no exception. It has, however, been found to be quite workable, keeps records readily available, provides a concise though extremely arbitrary index and log of diseases well suited to the special needs of radiotherapy, and affords a means of keeping follow-up current within one year. The system consists of: (a) name index cards, (b) a color code, (c) a disease index, (d) a log of diseases, and (e) filing folders of a special type. 1. (a) Name Index Card: The name index cards are no different from the usual index card. They are filed alphabetically and may contain any amount of information one wishes; the only essentials are name and reference number. 2. (b) Color Code: A color code is used for visual recognition of digits 0–9. Any code will serve, though once started it can be changed only with great inconvenience. The one given here is the Massachusetts General Hospital records-system code, though any other is just as good, as the code used for identifying capacitor sizes, for example. Still better would be one which eliminates black, gray, and white, for rapid recognition of colors could then be facilitated by the use of color absorptive filters—spectacles perhaps. The color codes are in the form of adhesive labels, which can be obtained in rolls or sheets. Their size conforms to the size of the code spaces on the spine of the folder. 3. (c) Disease Index: Many disease indexes are available. Most are more detailed and complex than is necessary for the purposes of a medium-sized department of radiotherapy. The one presented here is severely truncated, arbitrary, and representative of considerable compromise. For example, the same code is used for different diseases appearing in one sex only, carcinoma of the vulva and carcinoma of the scrotum having the same code number. The index is not intended to do more than facilitate the first order of recognition, but this we have found it to do quite well. The basic principles are extremely simple and may be listed on one side of a typewritten sheet. It is a three-positioned code in which the first position 0 to 9 represents the system or major grouping, the second position refers to the anatomic division, and the third position to the pathology. For example, 0 in the first position denotes miscellaneous; 1, central nervous system, endocrine systems, and organs of special sense; 3, genitourinary system, etc.