Meghan Lane-Fall: "ICU Patient Handoffs/Transfers"

Perioperative handoffs, also known as handovers or signouts, are patient care transitions between clinicians or teams. They represent breaks in the continuity of care that have ability to introduce error, increasing the risk of adverse patient outcomes. Handoffs can be improved through standardization, which makes information transfer more reliable by scripting the interactions between care team members. Standardizing perioperative handoffs from the operating room (OR) to the intensive care unit (ICU) is associated with improved handoff quality and patient outcomes, but changing clinician behavior is not always straightforward. In this talk, Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall describes the potential risks associated with OR to ICU handoffs, proven strategies for improving them, and the use of implementation science to promote the uptake of standardized handoffs.