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Clinical Handovers

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Management and Leadership – A Guide for Clinical Professionals

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Abstract

Handovers refer to transfer of information and responsibility from one health care team to another. This process is often unstructured and hence, prone to errors. Miscommunication between health care providers is a leading cause of adverse events. Review of medical malpractice claims found communication failure as an important contributing factor. Other high risk industries such as commercial aviation and oil and natural gas industry have reduced adverse events by standardizing handover process. These strategies could be adapted to improve medical handovers. Lack of standardization, formal training, supervision and communication problems are some of the barriers to effective handovers. Involvement of patients in handover process improves satisfaction and reduces errors. Computerized handover tools and mnemonics can be used to improve quality of handovers. Further research is necessary to study various strategies to improve medical handovers.

Handovers, the serious business of transferring the professional responsibility and accountability

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 840 S.Wood St.Suite 1256, 60612, Chicago, IL, USA

    Sachin Amin MD

  2. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Hospital of University of Illinois, Chicago, USA

    Sachin Amin MD

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  1. Sachin Amin MD
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Correspondence to Sachin Amin MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neonatal Paediatrics, KEM Hospital for Women, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Sanjay Patole

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Amin, S. (2015). Clinical Handovers. In: Patole, S. (eds) Management and Leadership – A Guide for Clinical Professionals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11526-9_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11526-9_13

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