Improving Physician Communication

Medical errors contribute to illness and even death for many hospitalized patients. Many of these errors come from miscommunication during handoffs, when patient information is communicated from one care provider finishing their shift, to another beginning a shift. A new study examined ways to improve this handoff process.  “We had communication training for the residents. We also tried to standardize the process of verbal handoffs.” Instead of residents and interns completing separate handoffs, a team handoff was implemented. Dr. Amy Starmer and co-authors examined more than 1,200 patient admissions involving 84 resident physicians on two inpatient units.  “We actually were able to see a significant reduction in medical error rates by improving these processes. We did not notice any adverse effects on provider workflow; they were able to still have time to spend with their patients.” The study appears in a theme issue on medical education in the Journal of the American Medical Association.