Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40202286›Full record

Observational studyANZ journal of surgery2025

Lost in transcription - how accurately are we documenting the surgical ward round?

Ellie C Treloar, Ying Y Ting, Martin H Bruening, Jessica L Reid, Suzanne Edwards, Emma L Bradshaw, Jesse D Ey, Matthias Wichmann, Matheesha Herath, Guy J Maddern

Abstract readObservational StudyMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in ANZ journal of surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Ellie C TreloarDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4840-8967
Ying Y TingDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Martin H BrueningDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Jessica L ReidDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Suzanne EdwardsDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Emma L BradshawDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Jesse D EyDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Matthias WichmannDepartment of General Surgery, Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service, Mount Gambier, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-3482-3916
Matheesha HerathDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.
Guy J MaddernDepartment of Surgery, The University of Adelaide, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2064-181X

Funding

Avant Foundation N/A
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWard rounds are crucial to providing high-quality patient care in hospitals. Ward round quality is strongly linked to patient outcomes, yet ward round best practice is severely underrepresented in the literature. Accurate and thorough ward round documentation is essential to improving communication and patient outcomes.

methodsA prospective observational cohort study was performed by reviewing 135 audio-visual recordings of surgical ward rounds over 2 years at two hospitals. Recordings were transcribed, and an external reviewer stratified discussion points as Major, Minor, or Not Significant. Discussion was compared to the ward round note to assess the accuracy of documentation based on bedside discussion. The primary endpoint was the accuracy of Major discussion in the patient case notes. Secondary objectives involved investigating variables that may have impacted accuracy (e.g., patient age, sex, length of stay in hospital, and individual clinicians).

resultsNearly one third (32.4%) of important (Major) spoken information regarding plans and patient care in the ward round was omitted from the patients' written medical record. Further, 11% of patient case notes contained significant errors. Patient age (P = 0.04), the day of the week on which the ward round occurred (P = 0.05) and who the scribing intern was (P ≤ 0.001) were found to impact documentation accuracy. There was a large variation in interns documenting ability (35.5%-88.9% accuracy).

conclusionsThis study highlighted that a significant portion of important discussion conducted during the ward round is not documented in the case note. These results suggest that system-wide change is needed to improve patient safety and outcomes.

Indexed as

DocumentationTeaching RoundsAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective Studiesaccuracydocumentationsurgerysurgical case notesward rounds

Identifiers

PMID40202286
PMCPMC12105566

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.