Download - Happy Handoffs
Happy Handoffs The Cornerstone of Success
for Residency in the Modern Age
Happy Handoffs Lecture outline slide
What is a handoff Communication…
Depends on the communicator’s clinical experience (blueprint)
Why are Handoffs so important?
More time ‘passing the baton’
Multiple handoffs for each patient daily due to the team based approach to patient care versus single provider
In 2010 Joint Commission added handoff into Accreditations Standards (Blueprint article)
We are all on the same ‘team’
There is no ‘my patient – your patient’. We are all responsible for the patient at any given time
What are the goals of each handoff
Discussion of plan of care with the team Minimize disruptions in continuity of care Emphasize patient safety
NOT a one-way street for passive communication (blueprint)
What happens if handoffs are not effective
Adverse events
Longer hospital stays
Increased cost of patient care
High risk situations: Patient critical/unstable, transitions of primary caregiver, first time listener is learning about patient (blueprint)
No doctor is an island
Some residents may feel that they should personally complete certain tasks
Attendings may perpetuate this ideology (‘when I was a resident…”)
Understanding when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate to hand off patient care is one of the more difficult skills learned during internship
The impact of EMR on handoffs
EMR supported handoff tools will become more widespread
On the record versus off the record Questions of liability Multidisciplinary editing of the EMR handoff
Cross Cover Tips
What to include in written handoff
What to say during verbal handoff
The Handoff Environment