Trial reportJournal of general internal medicine2013
Effect of a systems intervention on the quality and safety of patient handoffs in an internal medicine residency program.
Trial report in Journal of general internal medicine, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physician inpatient handoffs-Patient and physician outcomes: A systematic review.Journal of hospital medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating Outcomes of Electronic Tools Supporting Physician Shift-to-Shift Handoffs: A Systematic Review.Journal of graduate medical education · 2015Pooled it
- Patient safety after implementation of a coproduced family centered communication programme: multicenter before and after intervention studyBMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2018Trial
- Technological Solutions to Improve Inpatient Handover in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- For Residents, by Residents: Developing a Physician Handoff Tool at a University Affiliated Community Hospital.Cureus · 2021Article
- Article
- Artificial intelligence systems for complex decision-making in acute care medicine: a review.Patient safety in surgery · 2019Review
- Improving residents' handovers through just-in-time training for structured communication.BMJ quality improvement reports · 2016Article
- Optimizing handoff training and outcomes in medical education.Journal of general internal medicine · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPoor quality handoffs have been identified as a major patient safety issue. In residency programs, problematic handoffs may be an unintended consequence of duty-hour restrictions, and key data are frequently omitted from written handoffs because of the lack of standardization of content.
objectiveDetermine whether an intervention that facilitates face-to-face communication supported by an electronic template improves the quality and safety of handoffs.
designBefore-after trial.
participantsThirty-nine interns providing nighttime coverage over 132 intern shifts, representing ∼9,200 handoffs.
interventionsTwo interventions were implemented serially-an alteration of the shift model to facilitate face-to-face verbal communication between the primary and nighttime covering physicians and an electronic template for the day-to-night handoff. MEASUREMENTS: Overall satisfaction and handoff quality were measured using a survey tool administered at the end of each intern shift. Written handoff quality, specifically the documentation of key components, was also assessed before and after the template intervention by study investigators. Interns used the survey tool to report patient safety events related to poor quality handoffs, which were validated by study investigators.
resultsIn adjusted analyses comparing intern cohorts with similar levels of training, overall satisfaction with the new handoff processes improved significantly (p < 0.001) post intervention. Verbal handoff quality (4/10 measures) and written handoff quality (5/6 measures) also improved significantly. Study investigators also found significant improvement in documentation of key components in the written handoff. Interns reported significantly fewer reported data omissions (p = 0.001) and a non-significant reduction in near misses (p = 0.056), but no significant difference in adverse events (p = 0.41) post intervention.
conclusionsRedesign of shift models common in residency programs to minimize the number of handoffs and facilitate face-to-face communication, along with implementation of electronic handoff templates, improves the quality of handoffs in a learning environment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.