^

Practice Support

Section Menu  

Quality and Safety

ASTRO accomplishes a key strategic goal of driving high quality by leading initiatives that enhance quality and safety, and developing resources that ultimately improve patient outcomes and the lives of people with cancer.

Quality Improvement Announcements

  • Happy Patient Safety Awareness Week! Learn more about how you can celebrate #PSAW25
  • NEW Application is now open through Monday, March 24, to apply for ASTRO's Peer Review Safety White Paper update. ASTRO seeks to include individuals with diverse experiences in peer review formats on the writing panel to update consensus-based guidance.
  • NEW RO-ILS Case Study 21 describes a near miss event in which contouring and treatment planning were completed on an incorrect image data set. Read the latest RO-ILS education to learn about error pathways navigating multiple CT scans and review possible prevention strategies.

Accreditation

APEx, the fastest growing radiation oncology accreditation program in the United States, recognizes facilities by objectively assessing adherence to rigorous quality and safety standards to improve patient care and outcomes.

RO-ILS

RO-ILS is a free safety program that offers enrolled practices a ready-made portal to collect and analyze errors in a legally protected environment. Education based on the aggregate database facilitates quality improvement.

Data standards

Establishing robust radiation oncology data standards for seamless interoperability, enabling comprehensive data exchange, enhancing treatment quality, and fostering collaborative research, ultimately advancing patient care and outcomes.

Safety is No Accident

This comprehensive reference guide was updated in 2019 to reflect the many recent efforts undertaken by radiation oncology specialty societies to improve quality and safety.

Measures

Measures are a mechanism to assess quality indicators in various aspects of the delivery of health care and may be used internally or externally with a direct link to physician reimbursement.

Radiation Disaster Management

Radiation oncologists have a civic duty to become principal resources in emergency preparedness measures in the event of a nuclear/radiologic incident or disaster.

PQI

Practice Quality Improvement is an integral part of the American Board of Radiology’s Maintenance of Certification program – APEx and RO-ILS templates help meet this educational requirement.

Additional Resources

As necessary, ASTRO develops additional resources to meet the quality and safety needs in the radiation oncology community. For example, this will include sample checklists, templates and education.

Public Comment

ASTRO posts draft clinical practice guidelines and practice documents for public comment before they are finalized and sent to ASTRO's Board of Directors for approval.

Consensus Documents

In consensus documents a panel of experts specializing in a topic evaluate the available evidence and provide recommendations. ASTRO safety white papers focus on a specific technology or process step.

Target Safely

The Target Safely plan, launched in 2010, focuses ASTRO’s resources on improving patient safety and reducing the chances of medical errors during radiation therapy treatments.
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Radiation Oncology