Safety Games
Get creative and offer staff fun, safety-oriented activities for PSAW. For example, this could be a safety-focused question that is sent out daily, a crossword puzzle with all safety words or a competitive quiz-style game (such as Jeopardy!).
Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW)
Patient Safety Awareness Week (PSAW), sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), is an opportunity to celebrate the numerous quality and safety initiatives already in place and to identify what more can be done to improve patient safety. PSAW takes place during the second full week of March and is a time to acknowledge the many commitments that radiation oncology professionals and practices make every day to deliver safe and high-quality cancer treatment.
ASTRO encourages radiation oncology professionals to initiate and join the conversation about safety with their colleagues within the specialty and in the health care community every day but especially during PSAW. Consider participating in the following initiatives and reviewing the latest safety education during PSAW.
2025: March 9-15
Patient Safety Conversation Hour
RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System® hosted a one-hour interactive forum about patient safety on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. During this virtual conversation hour, attendees discussed two curated RO-ILS events in small groups and then debriefed with safety experts. Review the RO-ILS cases and discuss with your colleagues.
#PSAW25 and #ROSafety
Share safety research and quality activities with your colleagues, the radiation oncology community and house of medicine on social media. Be sure to include hashtags #PSAW25 and #ROSafety in all posts.
Safety selfie
Post a photo of yourself and/or your team holding the PSAW handout on social media to promote your important role as safety champion(s). In appreciation of ongoing virtual meetings, you may also utilize a virtual background that could be applied to a Microsoft Teams, Zoom, GoToMeeting or Webex meeting (see linked webpages for instructions).
Celebrate your team
PSAW is a great opportunity to promote RO-ILS participation and highlight to all staff the importance of event reporting (especially near misses). Take this opportunity to celebrate engagement, such as by initiating great catch awards, and thank staff for participating in safety activities.Get creative
For example, this year, the Northwestern Medicine Proton Center is conducting their own March Madness bracket for safety. Their staff are voting on their favorite safety tool in a Safety Tool "Tournament" and participating in Safety Rounding to bring awareness to these tools. Use this opportunity to think creatively about how to increase interest and participation in patient safety activities.
Ongoing Safety Initiatives
One of the four major ASTRO goals is to consistently deliver the highest quality and value care to cancer patients. A heightened focus on safety began more than 10 years ago with the Target Safely initiative. Toward this aim, ASTRO offers a variety of ongoing programs and resources, including:
- RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System®. RO-ILS is one of the few specialty-specific programs that collects safety data via a federally listed patient safety organization in a protected, non-punitive environment. Participation in RO-ILS is free thanks to the generous financial support of sponsors ASTRO and AAPM and supporters Varian, ASRT, AAMD, Sun Nuclear Corporation, Radformation, Radiological Imaging Technology (RIT) and VisionRT.
- APEx - Accreditation Program for Excellence®. APEx evaluates all aspects of a radiation oncology practice to further promote consistent patient-centered care. Facilities accredited by APEx are recognized as having demonstrated a commitment to providing safe, high-quality care to patients and elevating the culture of safety.
- Safety is No Accident. This comprehensive reference guide describes the radiation oncology process of care, the clinical team, safety initiatives and tools and quality management.
- Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO). Key focus areas of ASTRO’s official clinical practice journal include patient safety and quality improvement.
- Guidelines and White Papers. These documents aim to assist health care professionals and patients with decision making and promote high quality and appropriate care.
