Incident learning during the early Covid-19 pandemic (1 November 2021)

Summary

This study in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics assesses the impact of the early Covid-19 pandemic on incident learning through evaluation of events reported to the Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System® (RO-ILS) in the USA.

The authors conclude that reporting to RO-ILS declined during the early Covid-19 pandemic, especially in hotspot areas, suggesting that resources and time were diverted away from incident reporting to address other critical needs. However, three of the five top reporting practices that stopped reporting during early Covid have since reported events after the analysis timeframe, suggesting the decline may be temporary.