Standardized classification of patient safety issues enables aggregation of problems to create system-wide solutions. In this study, twelve months of health information technology (HIT) incidents were retrospectively reviewed and classified into one of five types: HIT failures, unmet user needs, external system interactions, absence of HIT features, and not enough information to assess. After the retrospective phase, classification of reports was integrated into weekly meetings. Prospective categorization was efficient and allowed for more real-time analysis of HIT safety concerns.