The National Association for Proton Therapy (NAPT) is getting ready for its annual National Proton Conference, taking place March 19 to 21 in Nashville, Tennessee.

In preparation for the event, HealthCare Business News sat down with the NAPT's board chair, Kristin Heath, for a big picture conversation about the meeting and the overall state of proton therapy today.

HCB News: Can you tell us about your background in healthcare and how you came to be an advocate for proton therapy?
Kristin Heath: My path to Executive Director of the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute and serving as the current Board Chair of the National Association for Proton Therapy began in diagnostic radiology as a radiologic technologist. It was during my training to become a radiographer that I learned about radiation oncology and the pathway to become a radiation therapist. When I learned that the University of Florida was opening a proton therapy center in Jacksonville, I applied to work there and was hired onto the team as one of the first radiation therapists that delivered treatment to our patients. I could see the advantage for so many patients in the reduced radiation to healthy tissue. Since 2006, when I first began treating patients with protons and then later leading radiation therapy departments and proton therapy programs in Texas and Miami, it became clear that the reduced side effects and in many cases longer survivorship are making a difference in people’s lives. Expanding access to proton therapy for cancer patients is something I fully support.

HCB News: Looking back over the past several years, what events or topics have most defined the state of proton therapy adoption?
KH: We have really seen the adoption of the single-room proton therapy system dominating the growth and development of centers both here and abroad. Even so, these are large, complex projects and it is often academic health centers that have the infrastructure to support a proton program. Additionally, we have seen the advancement of both imaging for proton therapy setups (CBCT) and delivery techniques to provide intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). This has really expanded how we are able to use proton therapy in more sophisticated ways to deliver treatment to our most complex cases.

HCB News: Beyond the technology itself, what operational or workforce issues are taking up the most oxygen in proton therapy discussions right now?
KH: The biggest issue that most organizations are facing is within staffing. Healthcare is in a very difficult staffing space right now nationally and radiation oncology is no exception. Radiation therapists are vital members of a radiation oncology department and there is a significant shortage of radiation therapists across the nation. As healthcare leaders, we have to continue to work with our local education programs to help with providing knowledge about the various professionals that support a radiation oncology department so that our next generational workforce is aware of what opportunities there are for them to pursue. Hosting events for high school students is a great way to introduce professions such as radiation oncologist, medical physicist, dosimetrist and radiation therapist to young impressionable minds to get them excited about our field and to help them navigate the pathway to obtain the appropriate education or certifications for each role.

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