[Ten tips for optimising your handover]

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2015:159:A9085.
[Article in Dutch]

Abstract

Patient handover is of major importance for continuity of care and contributes to patient safety. According to Joint Commission International (JCI), an American quality institute, 67% of medical errors result from miscommunication. More than half of these errors appear to be attributable to poor medical handover. JCI and the World Health Organisation recommend standardising handover and training doctors in order to improve the quality of medical handover. Little attention is paid to handover as an essential medical competence during training to become a doctor or medical specialist. Many hospitals lack either training or a standardised format for handover. In this paper we discuss 10 tips for improving the quality of intradisciplinary handover.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Continuity of Patient Care*
  • Humans
  • Medical Errors / prevention & control*
  • Patient Safety*
  • Quality of Health Care / standards*
  • Referral and Consultation