[10 tips for improving patient handovers from hospital to other health care settings]

When patients are transferred from the hospital to other health care settings, responsibility for the patient is transferred from the treating physician, nurse, paramedic or pharmacist at the hospital to the next health care provider. Good patient handovers from hospital to other healthcare settings are essential to ensure continuity of care. However, handovers are often delayed or incomplete and the patient is barely involved in her or his own transfer. Risks related to an incomplete handover may be considerable. More than half of the preventable adverse events that occur after discharge are attributable to ineffective communication between hospital and other healthcare providers. Through the implementation of some adjustments, the discharge process can become a point of focus during a patient's hospital stay. Examples to improve patient handovers are standardizing the discharge process and the content of patient handovers, planning a target discharge date, starting the collection of transfer data on time and involving the patient in her or his transfer.