Which statement best describes the goal of incident reporting in healthcare?

• A. To document safety events, identify root causes, and prevent recurrence
• B. To track staff performance ratings
• C. To compile marketing data
• D. To comply with unrelated regulations

Answer: (A)

The goal of incident reporting in healthcare is to capture safety events and near misses so teams can understand what happened, identify underlying factors, and implement changes to prevent recurrence. This approach focuses on learning from mistakes to strengthen systems and processes, rather than judging individuals or collecting data for marketing or unrelated regulatory requirements. By documenting the event, analyzing root causes, applying corrective actions, and monitoring their impact, a healthcare team can reduce the chance of similar incidents occurring in the future.