December 13, 2016 — The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) announced in November that Elekta has provided signficant financial support to RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System a national patient safety initiative launched in 2014 by ASTRO and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). RO-ILS facilitates safer and higher quality care in radiation oncology by providing a mechanism for shared learning in a secure and non-punitive environment. It is the only medical specialty society-sponsored radiation oncology incident learning system within a federally listed Patient Safety Organization (PSO).
RO-ILS is an online portal for radiation oncology centers to record non-patient-specific data about safety incidents and near-misses related to radiation therapy that occur at their facilities. To date, a total of 224 radiation therapy facilities from 36 different states have submitted nearly 2,500 events to the PSO. Clarity PSO and the Radiation Oncology Healthcare Advisory Council (RO-HAC), a panel of experts in radiation oncology, work together to aggregate, analyze and interpret the data submitted into RO-ILS. Quarterly published reports educate the radiation oncology community about how to improve safety and patient care. There are no fees for centers to participate in RO-ILS, an aspect of the program that the gift from Elekta will help preserve.
“The support from Elekta will help us keep this initiative free for participating radiation oncology centers, which preserves access to RO-ILS and encourages more centers, both large and small, to join this nationwide safety effort,” said David C. Beyer, M.D., FASTRO, chair of ASTRO’s Board of Directors. “Additionally, this gift allows us to conduct more in-depth data analysis by increasing the number of members on the Radiation Oncology Healthcare Advisory Council (RO-HAC).”
For more information: www.astro.org
July 11, 2024 
