Non-clinical rounds in hospital settings: a scoping review

The purpose of this paper is to systematically describe the types of non-clinical rounds implemented in hospital settings.

This scoping review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA. The review followed the four stages of conducting scoping review as defined by Arskey and O'Malley (2005).

Initially, 978 articles were identified through database search from which only 24 studies were considered relevant and included in the final review. Overall, eight types of non-clinical rounds were identified (death rounds, grand rounds, morbidity and mortality conferences, multidisciplinary rounds, patient safety rounds, patient safety huddles, walkarounds and Schwartz rounds) that independently of their format, goal, participants and type of outcomes aimed to enhance patient safety and improve quality of healthcare delivery in hospital settings, either by focusing on physician, patient or organizational system.

To the authors' knowledge this is the first review that aims to provide a comprehensive summary to the types of non-clinical rounds that has been applied in clinical settings.