SynthesisJournal of graduate medical education2015
Evaluating Outcomes of Electronic Tools Supporting Physician Shift-to-Shift Handoffs: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Journal of graduate medical education, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Physician inpatient handoffs-Patient and physician outcomes: A systematic review.Journal of hospital medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Daily handover in surgery: systematic review and a novel taxonomy of interventions and outcomes.BJS open · 2024Pooled it
- Clinicians' reasoning as reflected in electronic clinical note-entry and reading/retrieval: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2019Pooled it
- The effect of using desktop VR to practice preoperative handovers with the ISBAR approach: a randomized controlled trial.BMC medical education · 2023Trial
- Article
- Enhancing the quality of surgical care through improved patient handover processes.Patient safety in surgery · 2025Article
- Connected Healthcare System Technology Interventions to Improve Patient Safety by Reducing Medical Errors: A Systematic Review.Global journal on quality and safety in healthcare · 2025Review
- Handoffs and transitions of care in the intensive care unit: an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee clinical consensus document.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2025Article
- Improving handoff with the implementation of I-PASS at a tertiary oncology hospital.BMJ open quality · 2023Article
- The Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness of a Web-Based Interprofessional Communication and Collaboration Platform in the Hospital Setting: Interview Study With Health Care Providers.JMIR human factors · 2023Article
- For Residents, by Residents: Developing a Physician Handoff Tool at a University Affiliated Community Hospital.Cureus · 2021Article
- Documenting or Operating: Where Is Time Spent in General Surgery Residency?Journal of surgical education · 2018Article
- Efficiency of electronic signout for ED-to-inpatient admission at a non-teaching hospital.Internal and emergency medicine · 2018Article
- The impact of health information technology on patient safety.Saudi medical journal · 2017Review
- Using mobile devices for inpatient rounding and handoffs: an innovative application developed and rapidly adopted by clinicians in a pediatric hospital.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2017Article
- Information Needs Assessment for a Medicine Ward-Focused Rounding Dashboard.Journal of medical systems · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMultiple organizations have recognized that handoffs are prone to errors, and there has been an increase in the use of electronic health records and computerized tools in health care.
objectiveThis systematic review evaluates the current evidence on the effectiveness of electronic solutions used to support shift-to-shift handoffs.
methodsWe searched the English-language literature for research studies published between January 1, 2008, and September 19, 2014, using National Library of Medicine PubMed, EBSCO CINAHL, OvidSP All Journals, and ProQuest PsycINFO. Included studies focused on the evaluation of physician shift-to-shift handoffs and an electronic solution designed to support handoffs. We assessed articles using a quality scoring system, conducted a review of barriers and strategies, and categorized study outcomes into self-report, process, and outcome measures.
resultsThirty-seven articles met inclusion criteria, including 20 single group pre- and posttest studies; 8 posttest only or cross-sectional studies; 4 nonrandomized controlled trials; 1 cohort study; 1 randomized crossover study; and 3 qualitative studies. Quality scores ranged from 3.5 to 14 of a possible 16. Most articles documented some positive outcomes, with 2 of the 3 studies evaluating patient outcomes yielding statistically significant improvements. The only other study that analyzed patient outcomes showed that interventions other than the electronic tool were responsible for most of the significant improvements.
conclusionsThe majority of studies supported using an electronic tool, yet few measured patient outcomes, and numerous studies suffered from methodology issues. Future studies should evaluate patient outcomes, improve study design, assess the role of faculty oversight, and broaden the focus to recognize the role of human factors.
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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.