Rachel D Appelbaum, Thaddeus J Puzio, Zachary Bauman, Sofya Asfaw, Audrey Spencer, Ryan P Dumas, Kavneet Kaur, Kyle W Cunningham, Dale Butler, Jaswin S Sawhney, Stephen Gadomski, Chelsea R Horwood, Mary Stuever, Alyssa Sapp, Rajesh Gandhi, Jennifer Freeman
BACKGROUND: The Joint Commission reports at least half of communication breakdowns occur during handovers or transitions of care. There is no consensus on how best to approach the transfer of care within Acute Care Surgery (ACS). We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current data on handoffs and transitions of care in ACS patients and evaluate the impact of standardization and formalized communication processes. METHODS: Clinically relevant questions regarding handoffs and transitions of care with clearly defined patient Population(s), Intervention(s), Comparison(s), and appropriately selected Outcomes (PICO) were determined...
February 26, 2024: Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery