ED Handoff Communications

Course overview

The ED is an error-prone environment, and is perhaps the most handoff-intense setting in all of healthcare. While signout is a point where error may be introduced, it is also a point where error may be caught and corrected. Standardized handoff procedures are used in other high risk industries and have been shown to reduce adverse events, but little research has been done on handoffs in the ED, and few EDs have adopted a standardized handoff procedure. This monograph will review and offer an assessment of what can be learned from the most current studies, resources and tools specific to this procedure and setting.