Intrahospital Patient Handoffs: Enhancing Safety and Continuity

Ineffective handoffs are associated with medical errors and adverse outcomes. Intrahospital handoffs occur at shift change, patient transfer, and service change. Handoff interventions often include structural interventions (eg, mnemonics, electronic tools, and protected time) and/or educational interventions. Many studies of handoff interventions demonstrate improvement in process measures or information transfer. One of the few studies to demonstrate a significant improvement in clinical outcomes is the I-PASS study. Future research should address the limitations of existing data and investigate emerging approaches to enhance patient handoffs, including the use of artificial intelligence as a novel model for improving intrahospital transitions of care.