Better Treatment or Better Workflow? Why Radiotherapy Needs to Stop Choosing
In radiotherapy, everyone agrees on the goal: deliver the best possible care to every patient. But when you step inside most cancer centers, you start to see the quiet compromises being made every day.
Physicists and oncologists want precision. Technologists and therapists want ease of use. Administrators want throughput. And every new technology that enters the clinic must serve all of them, somehow.
This balancing act is not new. But with so much change happening across the field, that balance is starting to show its limits.
As imaging, AI, and treatment planning advance, the pressure to streamline workflows has never been greater. Clinics are seeing more patients, handling more complexity, and facing tighter margins. Widespread staff shortages in radiation oncology departments only amplify the strain, leaving teams stretched thin and forced to make tough decisions every day. In this environment, efficiency often wins. Not because people care less about outcomes, but because the system is too strained to prioritize both.
The tension is real. And it's understandable.
Some innovations aim to push treatment quality forward, offering better margins, more personalization, or tighter beam control. Others promise to save time, reduce staffing needs, or eliminate unnecessary steps. But too often, these two directions are treated as opposites. You either improve care or you speed things up. Rarely both.
This is not just a product challenge. It is a mindset challenge.
The reality is, radiotherapy doesn’t need more one-dimensional tools. It needs systems that elevate the entire process. That means improving outcomes and workflow at the same time. It means building for clinical excellence without increasing burden. It means recognizing that true innovation doesn’t ask clinicians to choose between priorities, it solves for both.
We believe that better patient positioning is not just a technical upgrade. It is a foundational shift that can unlock faster workflows, efficiently open up the door for new technologies, and help enable more effective treatments.
We are not alone in this thinking. Across the industry, there is growing recognition that radiotherapy is only as strong as its foundation. The next wave of innovation will not come from choosing between speed and precision. It will come from refusing to separate them.
It is time to stop forcing the choice between better care and better efficiency. Patients deserve both. So do the people treating them.
- Bas
