Improving Patient Handoffs

The importance of improving patient transitions has been well researched and documented. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) cited patient handoffs as one of the leading causes of error in Emergency and General Medicine nearly a decade ago in their seminal report "Crossing the Quality Chasm." Medical malpractice literature also cites communication breakdowns as a contributing factor in close to 80 percent of medical malpractice lawsuits. The Annals of Emergency Medicine (Kachalia A, Gandhi TK, February 2007) reported that 24 percent of missed diagnoses were related to inadequate handoffs.

At the heart of improving patient handoffs is improving communication in the ED. That communication can be from one ED physician to another at change of shift, from ED physician to admitting physician or from EMS provider to nurse or physician.

EPIC's member groups are encouraged to formalize a transition handoff process, using technology as appropriate to support reliable alerts and situational awareness and, above all, foster an environment of heightened communication within the ED.

EPIC President & CEO Graham Billingham, M.D., FACEP and Michelle Hoppes, RN, MS, CEO of Patient Safety & Risk Solutions and Sr. Vice President of EPIC discuss the importance of improving communications and patient handoffs.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• patient handoffs
• emergency room
• emergency department
• ED
• ER
• medical malpractice
• malpractice insurance