The search for the perfect handover

Objective: Multiple forces in today’s hospital environment have increased the frequency of transitions of care for patients. This increase has resulted in the need to establish effective and structured handover processes. Methods: Our institution established a multi-disciplinary Handover Taskforce with the goal of creating a practical and HIPAA-compliant hand-off tool utilizing computer technology. The Taskforce had representation from residents, attending physicians, nursing, pharmacy, informatics, risk management and patient safety. The Taskforce work was guided by two concepts. First, streamline the process by avoiding redundant input into clinical information systems. Second, create an effective tool that could be used by all members of the healthcare team. Results: We describe the process by which this project was successfully executed, resulting in a HIPAA-compliant custom web application utilizing Microsoft SharePoint ® . Conclusions: Challenges encountered in the process, as well as applicability to other institutions, are addressed in the article.