Today’s complex healthcare system relies on handoffs and transitions to move patients and their personal medical information through a maze of providers and institutions. Literally thousands of hospital handoffs and transitions occur each day. Unfortunately, and all too often, healthcare handoffs are catalysts for communication errors that result in significant adverse events and patient harm. Medication information, in particular, is at risk of being miscommunicated or omitted at points of patient transition. In addition, one of the most pressing patient safety topics of our time is the need to reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions. With the advent of healthcare reform, institutions with elevated hospital readmission rates are being put at a financial disadvantage for reimbursement purposes.
In this activity, we outline communication and process related challenges associated with healthcare handoffs, transitions, and discharges, and provide strategies and techniques to help improve communication, decrease patient risk, and reduce liability, risk, and costs. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: use a standardized handoff technique (such as SBAR) to improve communication during handoffs/transitions; employ basic steps to reconcile medications across the continuum of a patient’s care; and plan a hospital discharge conversation that includes all of the pertinent information necessary to insure a safe departure from the hospital and successful follow-up, as well as confirmation of patient understanding of key directives.
- Provider:The Sullivan Group
- Activity Link: https://www.thesullivangroup.com/RSQSolutions/course-purchase-home/
- Start Date: 2023-10-24 05:00:00
- End Date: 2023-10-24 05:00:00
- Credit Details: AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™️: 2.0 hours
- Commercial Support: No
- Activity Type: Enduring Material
- CME Finder Type: Online Learning
- Fee to Participate: Variable
- Measured Outcome: Learner Competence, Learner Knowledge, Learner Performance, Patient Health
- Provider Ship: Directly Provided
- Registration: Open to all