Advantages:

• Provides a structured approach for reporting and addressing incidents, improving patient safety and care quality.
• Ensures compliance with regulations and standards, reducing the risk of penalties.
• Streamlines incident reporting, investigation, and resolution, enabling quicker issue identification and corrective actions.
• Identifies patterns or recurring issues, allowing for systemic problem resolution and prevention.
• Defines roles and responsibilities, promoting staff accountability and proper incident management.
• Uses incident data for continuous process improvement, enhancing service quality and operational efficiency.

Disadvantages:

• Without a structured approach, risks may go unaddressed, harming patients and reducing care quality.
• Lack of a formal policy can result in non-compliance and regulatory penalties.
• Disorganized incident handling can lead to delayed resolutions and missed corrective actions.
• Absence of incident tracking can prevent identification of recurring issues, increasing future problems.
• Failure to learn from incidents may erode patient confidence in the practice's safety and quality of care.
• Incomplete or disorganized records due to lack of standardized reporting can hinder compliance and incident tracking.