Title: Hand overs in Emergency Medicine a point of ambiguity

Authors: Ahmed Q. Hasan, Ahmed Al-Khazraji

 DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i8.36

Abstract

Handovers in emergency department is a transfer of care of patients from one shift to another. Communication failure during this process is one the leading cause of providing a low quality handoff, which in turn result into a suboptimal care and jeopardize patient safety. In this paper we are trying to highlight this process and review some literature can aid emergency physicians to come up with a safe and effective sign out.

References

 

1.      Madhumita Sinha, MD, Jesse Shriki, DO, MS, Rebecca Salness, MD, Paul A. Blackburn, DO. Need for Standardized Sign-out in the Emergency Department: A Survey of Emergency Medicine Residency and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program Directors. Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. 2006.09.048

2.      Elder NC, Pallerla H, Regan S. What do family physicians consider an error? A comparison of definitions and physician perception. BMC Fam Pract. 2006;7:73.

3.      Vincent C (2010) Patients safety, 2nd edn. Wiley, Oxford

4.      Kohn L, Corrigab J, Donaldson ME (1999) To err is human. National Academy Press, Washington DC Leape LL (2000) Institute of Medicine medical error figures are not exaggerated. J Am Med Assoc 284(1):95–97

5.      Bates D, Gawande AA. Patient safety: improving safety with information technology. N Engl J Med. 2004; 351:1822–4.

6.      Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. Sentinel event statistics [announcement]: Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations Web sitehttp://www.jointcommission.org/SentinelEvents/Statistics (March 31, 2003) Accessed August 7, 2006

7.      P. Croskerry, D. Sinclair. Emergency medicine: a practice prone to error. CJEM, 3 (2001), pp. 271–276

8.      Petersen LA, Orav EJ, Teich JM, et al. using a computerized sign-out program to improve continuity of inpatient care and prevent adverse events. Jt Comm J Qual Improv 1998;24:77–87.

9.      Van Eaton EG, Horvath KD, Lober WB, et al. A randomized, controlled trial evaluating the impact of a computerized rounding and sign-out system on continuity of care and resident work hours. J Am Coll Surg 2005;200:538–45.

10.  Ash JS, Berg M, Coiera E. Some unintended consequences of information technology in health care: the nature of patient care information system related errors. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2004;11:121–4.

11.  D.S. Cheung, J.J. Kelly, C. Beach, et al.  Improving handoffs in the emergency department.  Ann Emerg Med, 55 (2010), pp. 171–180

12.  V Arora, J Johnson, D Lovinger, H J Humphrey, D O Meltzer. Communication failures in patient sign-out and suggestions for improvement: a critical incident analysis. Qual Saf Health Care 2005;14:401–407.

13.  Madhumita Sinha, MD, Jesse Shriki, DO, MS, Rebecca Salness, MD, Paul A. Blackburn, DO. Need for Standardized Sign-out in the Emergency Department: A Survey of Emergency Medicine Residency and Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program Directors. Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. 2006. 09.048

14.  Kapil R. Dhingra, Andrew Elms, Cherri Hobgood. Reducing Error in the Emergency Department: A Call for Standardization of the Sign-out Process. Ann Emerg Med. 2010;56:637-642.

15.  Haig KM, Sutton S, Whittington J. SBAR: a shared mental model for improving communication between clinicians. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2006;32:167-175.

16.  Yates G. Panel 1—Promising Quality Improvement Initiatives: Reports From the Field. AHRQ Summit—Improving Health Care Quality for All Americans: Celebrating Success, Measuring Progress, Moving Forward. 2004.

17.  Patient Safety Program, Department of Defense. Healthcare Communication Toolkit to Improve Transitions in Care. Falls Church, VA: Healthcare Team Coordination Program, TRICARE Management Activity; 2005. Available at: http://dodpatientsafety.usuhs.mil/files/Handoff_Toolkit.pdf. Accessed July 3, 2009.

18.  Brownstein A, Schleyer A. The art of HANDOFFS: a mnemonic for teaching the safe transfer of critical patient information. Resident Staff Physician. 2007;53. Available at: http:// www.residentandstaff.com/issues/articles/2007-06_02.asp. Accessed July 3, 2009.

19.  Horwitz LI, Moin T, Green ML. Development and implementation of an oral sign-out skills curriculum. J Gen Intern Med. 2007; 22:1470-1474.

20.  D.S. Cheung, J.J. Kelly, C. Beach, et al.  Improving handoffs in the emergency department.  Ann Emerg Med, 55 (2010), pp. 171–180

Corresponding Author

Ahmed Q. Hasan