Background The Royal Commission Health Services Program (RCHSP) has been consuming thousands of occurrence variance report (OVR) forms (paper-based) to report all hospital incidents, with 200–300 OVRs per month. This has resulted in substantial challenges for the risk management unit regarding regular tracking, trending, and analysis of all OVRs while complying to the determined timeframes. The Quality Management and Planning Department (QMPD) and information Technology (IT) Department have started collaboration on an initiative to make the incident reporting system electronic to capture incident data, do incident follow-up, and communicate incident learning across all departments through an efficient, effective, and user-friendly system with good follow-up capability. The aim of this study was to improve the timeliness, efficiency, easy accessibility, and effectiveness of the OVR system.

Methods The new system is web-based and staff can access it using their usernames and passwords. Filling an OVR is easier as data entry occurs by ticking from displayed options with the availability of entering free text for more details if needed. Automatic notifications will be sent to the relevant staff throughout the organization. A comprehensive action assignment and follow-up system has been developed. Easy access to data across the organization and updated real-time view of the OVR dashboard are also available any time. Forwarding submitted OVR(s) to appropriate entities and tracking them has become more accurate and efficient. Pilot testing has been conducted for 2 months before full implementation.

Results The electronic system has significant benefits making it more convenient to all stakeholders. The number of reported adverse events, near misses, and sentinel events further increased. The ease of access to the web-based module to fill OVRs, the real-time incident log, the ability to attach any type of files to log entries, and the automatic time-stamped audit log/referencing are all features that make the new system more convenient. The action assignment and easy tracking system, the integrated emergency notification, and the electronic forms management enabled the risk management unit to manage the system more effectively and efficiently. Processing an OVR by quality staff decreased markedly from more than 120 minutes in the old system to 20 minutes in the new electronic system. The new system secured access and ability to create graphical representation of key performance indicator (KPI) trends, and the dashboard with color-coded visual indicators are also important features.

Conclusion A well designed e-OVR system has a significant positive impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of any healthcare risk management system.