Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28782377›Full record

SynthesisThe British journal of radiology2017

What is the impact of innovation on output in healthcare with a special focus on treatment innovations in radiotherapy? A literature review.

Maria Jacobs, Liesbeth Boersma, Andre Dekker, Rachelle Swart, Philippe Lambin, Dirk de Ruysscher, Frank Verhaegen, Joost Stultiens, Bram Ramaekers, Frits van Merode

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The British journal of radiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Maria Jacobs1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Liesbeth Boersma1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Andre Dekker1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Rachelle Swart1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Philippe Lambin1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Dirk de Ruysscher1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Frank Verhaegen1 Department of Radiation Oncology, MAASTRO clinic, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Joost Stultiens4 Faculty of Medical Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Bram Ramaekers5 Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Medical Technology Assessment (KEMTA), Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Frits van Merode6 Executive Board, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Maastro Clinic · NLMaastricht University Medical Centre · NLRadboud University Nijmegen · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo analyse how often innovations in healthcare are evaluated regarding output, especially in radiotherapy. Output was defined as either survival, toxicity, safety, service, efficiency or cost-effectiveness.

methodsA systematic literature review was conducted, using three search strategies: (1) innovations in general healthcare; (2) radiotherapy-specific innovations, i.e. organizational innovations and general implementation of innovations; (3) innovations per tumour group/radiotherapy technique. Scientific levels were classified according to the system used in European Society for Medical Oncology guidelines. Finally, we calculated the percentage of implemented innovations in Dutch radiotherapy centres for which we found evidence regarding output in the literature review.

resultsOnly 94/1072 unique articles matched the inclusion criteria. Significant results on patient outcome, service or safety were reported in 65% of papers, which rose to 76% if confined to radiotherapy reviews. A significant technological improvement was identified in 26%, cost-effectiveness in 10% and costs/efficiency in 36% of the papers. The scientific level of organizational innovations was lower than that of clinical papers. Dutch radiotherapy treatment innovations were adequately evaluated on outcome data before implementation in clinical routine in a minimum of 64-92% of cases.

conclusionOnly few studies report on output when considering innovations in general, but radiotherapy reviews give a reasonably good insight into innovation output effects, with a higher level of evidence. In Dutch radiotherapy centres only small improvements are possible regarding evaluation of treatment innovations before implementation. Advances in knowledge: This study is the first of its kind measuring how innovations are evaluated in scientific literature, before implementation in clinical practice.

Indexed as

Diffusion of InnovationOrganizational InnovationCost-Benefit AnalysisDelivery of Health CareEvidence-Based PracticeHumansNeoplasmsNetherlandsPatient SafetyRadiotherapyTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID28782377
PMCPMC5963374
OpenAlexW2742590569

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.