Patient Safety Awareness Week, ASTRO elections call for nominees, Reimbursement denials survey
March 11, 2026
| It’s Patient Safety Awareness Week! |
Join Northwell and other clinics by voicing your commitment to patient safety. |
| New on the Blog: Radiation Oncology’s Leadership in Safe Patient Care |
| Patient Safety Awareness Week is an opportunity to highlight radiation oncology’s commitment to delivering safe, high-quality patient care. In this new post, Suzanne Evans, MD, FASTRO, and Indrin J. Chetty, PhD, FASTRO, Chair and Vice Chair of ASTRO’s Clinical Affairs and Quality Committee, outline key safety resources that ASTRO provides for its members, including the recently published DVH compendium and our new onboarding checklists for radiation oncology teams. Read more. |
| Call for nominees for ASTRO Elections |
ASTRO's Nominating Committee will soon begin the process of selecting candidates for the 2026 elections. The following positions are available:
To recommend a colleague or yourself for one of the above positions, review the Criteria for Elected Positions, send the name of the nominee, the position you would like the nominee to be considered for and the reason for your recommendation by email to the ASTRO Nominating Committee. Nominations must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, Friday, March 20. |
| Now open! Survivor Circle Grant applications for cancer support organizations |
| Do you know a cancer support organization in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire or Connecticut? Encourage them to apply for the 2026 Survivor Circle grant. Two groups will be selected to each receive a grant of $12,5000 and be recognized at ASTRO 2026 in Boston this September. Applications are due April 17. |
| New podcast available – Exercise in Oncology: Evidence, Mechanisms, Practice | |
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Exercise is increasingly discussed in cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship — but evidence quality and messaging vary widely. In this episode, radiation oncologists Avinash Chaurasia, MD, from Brooke Army Medical Center in Houston, Colin Champ, MD, from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, and medical oncologist Daniel Flora, MD, PharmD, from St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky, examine what the data truly support. |
| They explore biologic mechanisms and discuss how early career oncologists can responsibly integrate exercise counseling into clinical practice without overpromising or patient blame. | |
| eContouring for Functional Radiation Medicine Webinar – Free for Members-in-Training |
| Registration is open for the eContouring for Functional Radiation Medicine: Osteoarthritis and Fibromatosis Webinar, on April 2 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, led by Jessica Schuster, MD. Participants will learn contouring techniques for osteoarthritis and fibromatosis, enhancing their clinical skills in functional radiation medicine. This ASTRO Academy event includes hands-on contouring on real cases and a live Q&A. ASTRO members get a discount, while members-in-training and international members-in-training can register for free, thanks to support from Speed of Light – The ASTRO Foundation. |
| Reminder! ASTRO seeks public comments for updated guideline on Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer |
| The draft guideline on Hypofractionated Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer covers a broad scope of patients with localized prostate cancer receiving external beam radiation therapy as primary local therapy, including patients with low-risk prostate cancer who decline active surveillance and those with intermediate-, high- or very high-risk prostate cancer. Please review the guideline and submit comments through the webform by March 25. You can also access the draft guideline and webform at www.astro.org/PublicComment. |
| U.S. Radiation Oncologists: Share your experience with the revised radiation oncology delivery codes |
| ASTRO opened a brief, six-question survey to assess how recent changes to radiation oncology delivery codes are impacting practices across the country. ASTRO is actively working with payers to lower coverage barriers, communicating concerns and solutions with policymakers, and providing education and resources to help practices implement the revised codes. We need to better understand how these changes are affecting you and your patients to advocate forcefully on your behalf. Please fill out the short survey and continue to report inappropriate denials and payer issues. |
| ASTRO, Research groups call for NIH boost |
| ASTRO joined more than 550 organizations urging Congress to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 8.7% in FY2027. ASTRO will advocate for increases for NIH and the National Cancer Institute during ASTRO Advocacy Day, April 27-28, in Washington, DC. Registration for Advocacy Day is filling up fast. For more info, go to What’s Happening in Washington. |
