Healthcare incident reporting doesn’t work if no one’s using it. At Avatar Residential Detox, outdated paper forms were slowing down safety efforts in a high-acuity environment where every minute counts. By implementing Performance Health Partners’ customizable, mobile-enabled platform, Avatar increased incident reporting by 50%, reduced response time from two weeks to two days, and gained the real-time visibility needed to prevent harm before it happens.
Every day at Avatar Residential Detox begins with a single focus: keeping people safe during one of the most vulnerable chapters of their lives. Clients arrive in the midst of withdrawal, crisis, or mental health instability—often with layered medical and behavioral needs. In such a high-stakes environment, even small lapses can have serious consequences.
And while patient safety has always been a cornerstone of Avatar’s mission, the organization’s previous healthcare incident reporting process—like many in the healthcare field—hadn’t yet caught up with the pace and complexity of the care being delivered.
“We were still using clipboards,” said Victoria Hewitt, MA, LPC, LCADC, ACS, Director of Compliance and Quality Improvement at Avatar. “Staff had to physically fill out forms and walk them to a manager’s office. Sometimes that meant reports sat for days before anyone even saw them.”
It wasn’t uncommon for important information to get lost in the shuffle, especially if multiple incidents occurred on a busy day or if the appropriate leader wasn’t on site to receive the report.
The impact went beyond inconvenience. Incidents such as overdoses, falls, aggressive outbursts, or clients experiencing suicidal ideation require timely follow-up. But the lag between when an event occurred and when it was acted on left gaps in response, not to mention accountability.
“We didn’t have visibility into how often these events were happening, let alone why,” Victoria explained. “We weren’t learning from incidents because we didn’t have a system in place to capture the bigger picture.”
Without access to structured data, Avatar’s leadership couldn’t track trends, identify risks across units, or proactively improve safety policies. It was time for a change.
Having worked in behavioral health for years, Victoria was all too familiar with healthcare incident reporting systems that were either prohibitively expensive, difficult to use, or not designed for healthcare at all.
When it came time to choose a solution for Avatar, she briefly revisited a system she had encountered at a prior job.
“It was top of mind because I’d used it before,” she said. “But the quote came back close to $100,000—and I didn’t even think the platform was that great. It wasn’t intuitive, and it didn’t meet the needs of a behavioral health setting.”
Determined to find something better, Victoria began looking for an incident reporting platform designed with healthcare in mind. That search led her to Performance Health Partners (PHP).
“What stood out right away was the flexibility,” she said. “During PHP’s demo, I could immediately see that we could build the forms and workflows to match our real-world processes. It didn’t feel like a system we’d have to fight against. It felt like something that would work with us.”
Implementation moved quickly, and within weeks, Avatar staff had transitioned from clipboards and filing cabinets to a streamlined, cloud-based system that allowed them to report incidents in real time.
“Staff can now log in and file a report as soon as something happens—on their phone, tablet, or computer,” Victoria explained. “It takes just a few minutes, and that report is instantly routed to the right person for follow-up.”
The system was built to reflect the unique nature of incidents that occur in addiction treatment and behavioral health settings. Avatar frequently manages unanticipated medical events like overdoses, seizures, and psychosis; behavioral crises involving verbal or physical aggression; and falls, particularly among clients in detox who may be disoriented or physically unsteady.
“Before PHP, we’d have no idea if, say, four clients fell in the same hallway over two weeks,” Victoria said. “Now we have the ability to track by location, type of incident, time of day. We can actually identify patterns and act on them.”
Since launching the incident management platform, Avatar has seen measurable improvements—not just in how incidents are reported, but in how they’re understood, investigated, and resolved.
The volume of incident reports has increased by 50%, a sign that staff feel more empowered and encouraged to document events—especially near misses that previously went unreported.
“When it was paper-based, people would think, ‘Is this really worth filling out a form?’ Now, there’s no barrier. They know their report is going to be seen, and it’s easy to submit.”
Where it once took up to two weeks for an incident to be reviewed and addressed, now it takes two days or less. Real-time notifications ensure that leadership can respond to urgent events immediately—even after hours or on weekends.
“It’s been a complete shift. If something critical happens on a Saturday, I’m notified that same day, and we can start the follow-up process right away.”
With centralized dashboards and exportable reports, Avatar can now analyze trends over time, spot recurring risks, and make data-driven decisions about operations, staffing, and training.
For example, the team recently identified a pattern of behavioral incidents concentrated in a specific unit—something that had gone unnoticed under the old paper-based system. With that insight, they were able to intervene early and adjust care plans and staffing as needed.
“That’s not something we could see when everything was on paper,” Victoria said. “Now we’re making decisions that actually get ahead of the problem.”
Most importantly, the platform has helped foster a culture of safety, one in which staff feel heard, supported, and responsible for their shared environment.
“It’s created a real sense of accountability,” Victoria said. “When you have data, you can’t ignore it. And when people see that leadership is taking action based on what they report, they’re more likely to speak up again.”
As Avatar expands its programs and continues to serve a high-acuity population, its incident management system will remain a cornerstone of care. The team is already working on refining how they categorize incidents and leveraging the data for performance improvement initiatives tied to Joint Commission standards.
“We want to continue evolving,” said Victoria. “PHP gives us the infrastructure to do that. It meets our needs today and leaves plenty of room for growth tomorrow.”
Avatar Residential Detox is among a growing number of addiction treatment centers adopting Performance Health Partners’ platform—and in doing so, is helping redefine what modern, compassionate incident management can look like in behavioral health.
By replacing outdated paper forms with a digital system tailored to their needs, Avatar has gained the visibility, speed, and structure necessary to deliver safer, more responsive care—without adding administrative burden to frontline staff.
“PHP has changed the way we manage risk,” Victoria said. “It’s efficient, it’s customizable, and it’s made our organization better. I would absolutely recommend it to any behavioral health provider.”
If your organization is still relying on outdated or underused reporting tools, it may be time for a change.
Performance Health Partners’ healthcare incident reporting system is built for speed, customization, and real-time visibility—just like it was for Avatar Residential Detox.
Book a demo today to see how our platform can help you streamline reporting, prevent harm, and build a stronger culture of safety.