Boston Children’s Hospital Claims Program Can Reduce Medical Errors by 40%

/by

One of the most critical and danger-prone periods for any hospital patient occurs during a shift change. Studies have shown that this “hand-off” period or shift change can be fraught with errors involving a lack of communication or miscommunication.
Boston Children’s Hospital has developed a program by which this danger period can become less dangerous and medical errors reduced 40%, according to physicians at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Boston. Here’s how it works:
“The patient safety and medical education initiative standardizes patient handoffs during shift changes, according to the research announcement yesterday. In the I-PASS model, clinicians trained in communication and teamwork skills using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality-developed TeamSTEPPS use a mnemonic device to convene key information:
I — Illness severity
P — Patient summary
A — Action list for the next team
S — Situation awareness and contingency plans
S — Synthesis and “read-back” of the information

In addition, clinicians share a printed document during the handoff, integrated into the patient’s electronic medical record. The documents include significantly more information, including a to-do list for the patient and medication lists.
Other medical facilities are studying the process in anticipation of implementing it in their own facilities.

Kevin Dugan
Latest posts by Kevin Dugan (see all)