Where Communication is Always Critical: Executing the Hospital Information Handoff

Think about moments in your daily routine when the information you conveyed to someone else doesn’t always translate into the desired result. You asked for coffee with just cream, but it came across the counter with a “healthy” dose of sugar too. Maybe it was the pizza delivery that showed up with different toppings than you ordered or finding out after a four hour wait that furniture you scheduled to arrive today isn’t coming until tomorrow. Although moments like these can trigger frustration, not to mention a lot of eye rolling, they certainly aren’t life threatening. But when we’re talking about information exchanges involving patient care in a hospital, the stakes are much higher. 

Part of the job of a hospitalist is to coordinate all communications between the patient, their primary care physician and all the specialists and staff members assisting with care. Basically, a hospitalist is a doctor specializing in the practice of hospital medicine who focuses on the comprehensive medical care of hospitalized patients. They could be considered the quarterback of a patient’s hospital medical team and one of their most important responsibilities is executing patient information handoffs throughout the course of treatment.

“With several nurses and specialists treating a hospital patient around the clock, it’s vital that the latest condition information and updates are communicated clearly – every time,” said Dr. Ajay Madhani, M.D., CEO of Advanced Inpatient Consultants, a 24-hour hospitalist service based in Vernon Hills. “In a large hospital with several hundred patients, there can by thousands of patient information handoffs in a single day. The physician wants everyone involved in their patient’s treatment to know the latest information and the next steps – those have to be clear and understood every time.”

Information handoffs can be written or verbal; what’s important is that the person receiving the details clearly understands what to look for and what treatments or medications to administer. Sometimes patient information is conveyed in the form of a medical checklist or in a type of medical communication called SBAR (situation, background, assessment, recommendation). Both the checklist and SBAR provide plenty of details, but Dr. Madhani says that if patient information in these types of templates is being conveyed from one hospital physician to another or even from a nurse going off shift to another coming on duty, the details should go beyond just checking boxes or filling in lines on a page.

“Sometimes communications about patient care is exchanged as to-do items or instructions can be conveyed as if-then items,” he added. “In terms of a diagnosis, drug treatments and overall course of care, a hospitalist who is consistently monitoring their patient must make sure medical details are delivered in a way that comes across clearly and eliminates any confusion on the road to recovery.”

To learn more about the role of hospitalists, health insurance coverage for hospital-based physicians and Advanced Inpatient Consultants, please visit www.aichospitalist.com or call 847-535-7736.