title: Implementing a perioperative handoff tool to improve postprocedural patient transfers.
abstract: Handoffs in the perioperative setting--the period during which the patient leaves the operating room (OR) and arrives at the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) or intensive care unit (ICU)--have received little attention. A perioperative handoff tool consisting of an OR-to-ICU/PACU protocol and checklists incorporates a defined process, a specified team structure, a procedure for technology transfer, and clearly defined information elements to share. The tool could be applied to any periprocedural setting in which a patient is physically transferred from the procedural location (with the associated procedural team) to a postprocedural care unit with a different care team.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. michelle.petrovic@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Petrovic
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aboumatar
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist / Q000379:methods*; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D061214:Patient Safety; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D014481:United States