A Surgical Handover System for Patient Physiology and Safety.

Area of Science:

• Surgery
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Ineffective patient handover in surgery poses risks to patient safety.
• A standardized criterion for safe surgical handover is currently lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the SIPS (sickest patients first; introduction, situation, background, assessment, recommendation; prioritize; summarize) surgical handover system on patient physiology and safety.
• To assess the association between the SIPS system and improved patient outcomes in emergency general surgery.

Main Methods:

• Prospective interventional cohort study with an effectiveness-implementation hybrid design.
• Inclusion of physicians in postcall general surgery handover meetings at two tertiary academic hospitals.
• Data collected on 2261 patients before and after SIPS implementation, analyzing handover quality, vital signs, and staff perceptions.

Main Results:

• Implementation of the SIPS system led to improved handover quality without extending meeting duration.
• Significant improvements observed in patient vital signs at 12 and 24 hours post-handover.
• Reduction in reported handover-related patient safety events and enhanced staff perceptions of safety and quality.

Conclusions:

• The SIPS surgical handover system is associated with enhanced handover quality, improved patient physiology, and better staff-perceived safety.
• The SIPS system offers a viable solution for improving patient safety in surgical settings.
• Successful implementation demonstrated high adoption, fidelity, and sustainability.