Quality improvement regarding handoff.

Background And Objectives: Previous studies have emphasized the importance of effectual communication during patient handoffs. The objectives of this study were to (1) implement a resident-driven quality improvement project to improve handoffs by including key elements that are necessary for a safe and effective handoff. We chose to use the IPASS (illness severity, patient summary, action items, situation awareness and contingency planning, synthesis by receiver) mnemonic as our standardized handoff model; (2) Consider balancing measures in an effort to be aware of any negative effects of our interventions on resident satisfaction with the system.

A Quality Improvement Project to Improve Family Recognition of Medical Team Member Roles.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that inpatients and families in academic settings have a limited ability to recall either their medical team members or the roles of those members. This is an important issue for patient and family satisfaction as well as patient safety. The objective of this study was to increase families' recognition of medical team members' roles.