How should treatment course naming be handled for clarity?

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Clear naming of a treatment course ensures each course can be uniquely identified in the patient’s record and across the radiotherapy workflow. The best approach is to use a consistent convention that includes patient ID, disease site, and a course number. The patient ID ties the course to the right person, the disease site provides essential clinical context and helps separate courses for different sites on the same patient, and the course number distinguishes sequential or differently purposed courses (such as initial treatment, boosts, or salvage plans). This combination supports accurate order entry, plan retrieval, auditing, and clear communication across departments, and it remains reliable over time even as staff or dates change. Including only physician initials omits the patient and site, using a treatment date can be ambiguous if multiple courses occur or span different sites, and naming randomly disrupts traceability and safety.