Chasing Zero Harm in Radiation Oncology: Using Pre-treatment Peer Review

Conclusions: Catching errors prior to treatment is the only way to “chase zero” in radiation oncology. Various types of errors may exist in treatment plans and our GCPR model succeeds in preventing many errors of all shapes and sizes in target definition, dose prescriptions, and treatment plans from ever reaching the patients. Background and Introduction Since the release of the seminal report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled, “To Err is Human,” in 1999, the importance of patient safety and avoiding medical errors have been recognized and endorsed by the physician community, as well as by governing bodies and accreditation agencies (1). Stelfox et al. (2) assessed the impact of the initial IOM report and reported that it had increased the number of patient safety-related publications and awards. While a total of 5,514 articles were published over a 10 year period until 2006, the rate nearly tripled from 59 to 164 manuscripts/100,000 Medline citations following the publication of the IOM monograph. More importantly, it started a movement to emphasize the importance of a safety-oriented culture in patient care in the USA and beyond (3). A follow-up IOM report titled, “Crossing the Quality Chasm,” addressed additional quality issues and defined the six focal points of safety in patient care: 1. Safe care. 2. Effective care. 3. Patient-centered care. 4. Timely care. 5. Efficient care. 6. Equitable care. In ...
Source: Frontiers in Oncology - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research