Standardized approach to incident management across a radiation oncology network.

Abstract

235 Background: Quality and safety reporting is one of the most important aspects of creating a culture of safety. As part of a multidisciplinary Cancer Network, the Radiation Oncology Division at the lead institution devised an electronic incident reporting system that was implemented at the Network partners to define, standardize, quantify, and trend incidents in the radiation oncology treatment and care process. The purpose of this study is to assess robustness of the system, initial trends seen, and potential to improve quality and safety of the Network practice. Methods: Beginning in January 2017, the incident reporting system at the lead institution was configured to provide inclusion of 13 partnering radiation oncology facilities. Over one year, the organizations were on-boarded and trained on the use of the application. Descriptive analyses of the data from the use of this new reporting system were used in this study. Results: From January 1, 2017 to April 30 2018, a total of 832 incident reports were submitted by 13 different facilities. The average number of days from event submission to resolution was reduced to 10.25 days, compared with up to 60 days before implementation of the new central reporting system. The change in reporting rate was variable across the partner sites following implementation of the new system. The most frequent event types reported included ineffective communication (13%), planning-related problems (5%), incomplete or missing simulation orders (5%), and scheduling error or conflict (4%). Conclusions: Implementation of a centralized reporting system across a network of partner sites has greatly improved the overall reporting process, with reduced event resolution time and increased capability of tracking and trending incidents. By standardizing incident reporting across institutions, there are multiple opportunities to augment a strong culture of safety.