Clarity Group, Inc. Plays Key Role in Nationwide Launch of RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System™ Co-sponsored by ASTRO and AAPM
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) August 19, 2014 -- Clarity Group and Clarity PSO, an operating division of Clarity Group, are proud to announce that the company has been selected by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) for a key role in the development and launch of RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System™, a new, national patient safety initiative to facilitate safer and higher quality radiation oncology care.
RO-ILS™ is the only medical specialty society-sponsored radiation oncology incident learning system operating within a federally recognized Patient Safety Organization, Clarity PSO. Leaders from ASTRO and AAPM developed this online tool using Clarity’s Healthcare SafetyZone® Portal event management software to allow radiation oncology centers to provide non-patient-specific data about the radiation therapy near-misses and safety incidents that have occurred at their centers. With the tool, centers have the ability to track and analyze their data through a secure online interface and identify ways to improve safety and patient care. As part of the larger patient safety initiative, a panel of experts chosen by ASTRO and AAPM, called the Radiation Oncology Healthcare Advisory Council (RO-HAC), will work with Clarity PSO to analyze the aggregate data and provide radiation oncology safety procedures and processes, best practices, practice guidelines and/or recommendations.
RO-ILS™ is a key milestone in ASTRO’s Target Safely campaign, a patient protection plan to improve safety and quality for radiation oncology. PSOs such as Clarity PSO, facilitate the reporting and analysis of safety events by offering legal and confidentiality protections to U.S.-based medical practices. As one of the earliest and most well-regarded federally qualified Patient Safety Organizations, Clarity PSO is proud to have been selected by ASTRO and AAPM for provision of all affiliated patient safety services in addition to the development of the RO-ILS™ online interface with Clarity’s Healthcare SafetyZone® Portal.
“We [ASTRO, AAPM and Clarity] have been discussing and strategizing about this program for some time now, and to operationalize this has been a great thrill for us and the radiation oncology healthcare providers. It is an honor and a privilege to have been selected by ASTRO and AAPM to develop this program,” said Tom Piotrowski, Clinical Informatics Director at Clarity Group, Inc. and Executive Director of Clarity PSO. “An initiative such as RO-ILS™ really highlights the importance of using the protections afforded to healthcare providers through the PSQIA [the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005] in exactly the way they were intended: namely to foster the sort of safety culture that encourages robust information gathering and knowledge sharing that can lead to improved patient safety practices.”
The RO-ILS™ program began with an initial testing and evaluation period in September 2013 with a select number of sites. These early adopters include a variety of practice settings located across the country, including leading academic centers, community hospitals and freestanding clinics. In order to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the program, early adopters experienced the full participation process—from signing the necessary contract with Clarity PSO to RO-ILS™ training, data submission and analysis.
ASTRO and AAPM formally announced the launch of RO-ILS™ last month at a Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill, co-hosted by U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone, (D-N.J.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), ASTRO Chair Colleen A.F. Lawton, MD, FASTRO, and AAPM President John E. Bayouth, PhD. Comments and perspective were also provided by Jeffrey Brady, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Clarity PSO is a division of Clarity Group, Inc., a healthcare professional liability risk management organization. Neither Clarity PSO nor Clarity Group, Inc. is affiliated with ASTRO.
Detailed information about RO-ILS™ is available at http://www.astro.org/ROILS.
ABOUT CLARITY GROUP
Clarity Group, Inc. is a leading national healthcare professional liability and risk management organization. Clarity helps healthcare organizations understand and manage their risk and related costs through innovative and practical tools and services that focus on quality and safety outcomes. Core Clarity products and services include captive insurance company development and operations; risk-quality-safety consulting and educational services; an incident reporting tool, the Healthcare SafetyZone™ Portal; and Clarity PSO. For more information on Clarity Group, Inc., please visit http://www.claritygrp.com.
ABOUT CLARITY PSO
Clarity PSO is a federally listed Patient Safety Organization with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and stands as an independent division of Clarity Group, Inc. Clarity PSO offers healthcare providers a full range of solutions for increasing patient safety, including analytical benchmarking, risk-quality-safety resources, and systems development. Clarity's team of PSO consultants is dedicated to helping healthcare providers of all kinds mitigate risk while improving the quality of care. For more information on Clarity PSO, please visit http://www.claritypso.com.
ABOUT ASTRO
ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes two medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, and Practical Radiation Oncology; developed and maintains an extensive patient website, http://www.rtanswers.org; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute, a non-profit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit http://www.astro.org.
ABOUT AAPM
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is the scientific, educational and professional non-profit organization devoted to the discipline of physics in medicine. An applied branch of physics experts concerned with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the diagnosis and treatment of human disease, medical physicists (MPs) are committed to assuring the safe and effective delivery of radiation to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic result as prescribed in patient care. MPs perform or supervise the technical aspects of procedures necessary and are responsible for: the protection of the patient and others from potentially harmful or excessive radiation; establishment of adequate protocols to ensure accurate patient dosimetry; the measurement and characterization of radiation; the determination of delivered dose; advancement of procedures necessary to ensure image quality; development and direction of quality assurance programs; assistance to other health care professionals in optimizing the balance between the beneficial and deleterious effects of radiation; and compliance with applicable federal and state regulations. To learn more about AAPM, visit http://www.aapm.org.
###
Nick Hajek, Clarity Group, Inc., http://www.claritygrp.com, (773) 864-8280, [email protected]
Share this article