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Making Expertise Matter in Proton Therapy
Other services:

Workshops and Speaker Engagements

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Developing a Proton Therapy Business Case

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Independent Risk Assessment for Initiatives and Investors

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Proton Therapy Consultancy for Initiatives.

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Executive project management.

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Vendor selection and procurement

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Proton Therapy Consultancy for Vendors.

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Vendor selection and procurement

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Trees with Character provides consultancy in selecting the right vendor for the initiative, be it in direct contact or by way of a tender (including European public procurement tenders). Trees with Character also assists vendors in tenders, for more see this service.

The method used is Decision Free Procurement (DFP), which is an advancement of Best Value Procurement (for more information on DFP and how it is used to identify a proton therapy vendor read our case). DF Procurement minimises the risk a vendor will be identified whose expertise and interests are not fully aligned with those of the initiative.

Trees with Character provides the following services:

  • Workshop/training in DF Procurement
  • Design of the DF Procurement tender (be it a private or a public tender)
  • Consultancy in:
    • compiling tender regulations
    • ensuring the aim is unambiguous and understood alike by vendors and the buyer’s organisation (basis for having aim achieved)
    • running the tender and identifying the right vendor
    • the execution phase (vendor realising aims

Other services required in the context of DF Procurement/identifying the vendor? Click on the button below and simply ask.

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This is how we make proton therapy a success

Don’t buy equipment, identify the right vendor.

Because of the vendor lock-in for the lifetime of the proton therapy center, the services and capacity for innovation a vendor offers are of much greater importance than current functionality of the equipment. Shift the focus.

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Independent consultancy made the difference for us.

Proton therapy vendors have a lot of expertise and a need to sell equipment. They may not protest when unrealistic assumptions are made. Some consultants combine great expertise with ties to a vendor. Independent consultancy can make a difference.

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Patient selection and patient referral are pivotal.

Many proton therapy centers struggle because of unrealistic projections of patients being treated. But even when making a realistic projection, the challenges of patient selection and referral remain.

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Proton therapy technology is the least of your worries.

There is too much risk in the field of proton therapy, but the problem is not the technology. Focussing on technology often results in underestimating the real challenges. Challenges a vendor may help you with.

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Experience

Let’s talk proton therapy!

Asking questions is for free.

When you want to learn about proton therapy first hand, from the why to the how, from the benefits to the risks.

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Workshop Proton Therapy.

A hands-on approach

When considering proton therapy, but not yet ready to commit (and could use a simple client-specific business case).

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More experience >
Patient selection and patient referral are pivotal.

Many proton therapy centers struggle because of an unrealistic projection of the number of patients that will be treated. In the past, and even in the present, the number of patients projected to be treated was simply the number that was required to make the business case look good. Today we know that the most successful centers treat, on average, no more than 300 patients per treatment room. But to achieve even this number takes great effort. There is the challenge of identifying the patients who will benefit from proton therapy, and there is the challenge of getting these people referred to the center.

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Don’t buy equipment, identify the right vendor.

Initiatives who want to provide proton therapy treatments — often hospital organisations — are confronted with very complex and very capital intensive equipment they have never procured before. A proton therapy project is perceived as a major risk, and rightly so. Too many centers have failed or are failing. The risk lies not with the equipment, however. All vendors build reliable machinery delivering identical protons. Not all vendors, however, provide the same expertise and solutions. Initiatives should not focus on technology, but on identifying the vendor who is best able to meet their particular challenges.

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You can start to minimise risk in proton therapy today.

A decision is a conclusion reached after careful consideration. If you have to think about something it means this something is not transparent. If you take a decision when something is not transparent risk increases. This risk is minimised by unambiguous aims and access to expertise. What is it that you need to achieve? Who is the expert that will help you achieve it? Trees with Character helps with both.

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Proton therapy technology is the least of your worries.

Cyclotrons and synchrotrons alike are built to last for decades — as is shown by the early proton therapy centers who became operational in the previous millennium. To this day, however, the complexity of the equipment often is an initiative’s biggest concern and many resources are spent on trying to understand it. Meanwhile none of the proton therapy centers who failed failed because of the technology. There are other, much more relevant issues and challenges to be considered.

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Independent consultancy made the difference for us.

Proton therapy vendors have a lot of expertise. They also need to sell their equipment and associated services and may not point out which of an initiative’s assumptions are unrealistic. Some consultants possess great expertise — as well as an agreement with a vendor. Independent consultancy can make a difference. Independent consultancy means that the only interest to consider is your interest. Trees with Character will help you to make the right choices.

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Proton Therapy’s biggest problem is lack of transparency.

Initiatives don’t share their overall aims, vendors focus on technology. Everybody is blind to the other side’s needs and capabilities. Without transparency everything is a risk. Everybody is looking for safety and control. Many resources are spent on inspections, on meetings, on the contract. But there is another way.

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