Promoting Patient Safety With Perioperative Hand-off Communication

Effective perioperative hand-off communication is essential for patient safety. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to demonstrate how a structured hand-off tool and standardized process could increase effective perioperative communication of essential elements of care and assist in the timely recognition of patients at risk for clinical deterioration in the initial postoperative period. A team-based pilot project used the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice and the principles of Lean Six Sigma to implement Perioperative PEARLS, a perioperative specific hand-off communication tool and a standardized framework for hand-off communication. The implementation of a structured hand-off tool and standardized process supports compliance with regulatory standards of care and eliminates waste from the hand-off process. A review of pre-implementation and post-implementation data revealed evidence of safer patient care. Evidence-based perioperative hand-off communication facilitates expedited patient evaluation, rapid interventions, reduction in adverse events, and a safer perioperative environment.