For Documenting Stories of Success and Reporting Harm
The Academy developed the Incident Reporting Tool to support its efforts to protect the public, enhance the quality of nutrition care and promote self-regulation of the profession. The IRT fills a critical gap in supplementing the documentation of noteworthy incidents in the provision of nutrition care services across the country. Patients, members of the general public and health care practitioners can now easily document examples of successful nutrition care, showing the value of qualified practitioners. In addition, incidents of harm or unethical practice can be submitted using the IRT. The Academy/CDR Code of Ethics requires reporting cases of harm, and this tool provides a uniform and easy mechanism to do so and complements reports to state licensure boards. The information collected from the Incident Reporting Tool will be used to facilitate stakeholders and policymakers’ understanding of the value of qualified RDN care, including elected leaders, federal and state agency officials, other health care providers and the public. The IRT directly contributes to the Academy’s strategic plan, mission and policy goals, including to "leverage data to demonstrate effectiveness of dietetic and nutrition interventions."
Access to the IRT's data will be limited to a small group of specifically-designated staff from the Academy's Policy Initiatives and Advocacy and Web Development teams with content shared as needed with the Commission on Dietetic Registration and the Academy's Ethics Committee.
The IRT is not intended to collect submissions of Protected Health Information that would trigger federal HIPAA privacy protections. The tool includes a link for users who submitted a report of harm associated with an RDN or NDTR credentialed by the Commission on Dietetic Registration to submit an ethics complaint as part of the Academy's commitment to maintaining high standards of practice through a strong system of self-regulation.
Information will be stored in compliance with the Academy's data retention policy.
Information reported to the Incident Reporting Tool can be shared as appropriate with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) or state licensing boards to ensure compliance with professional standards and providers' legal and ethical obligations or evidence the continuing need for licensure laws' public protections.
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