Enhancing the Quality of the Anesthesia to Postanesthesia Care Unit Patient Transfer Through Use of an Electronic Medical Record–Based Handoff Tool

Abstract

Purpose Anesthesia to postanesthesia care unit (PACU) handoffs are often incomplete, imprecise, and highly variable with respect to information transfer, and therefore can jeopardize patient safety. A standardized anesthesia to PACU electronic medical record (EMR)-based patient handoff checklist was implemented and evaluated for its effect on the information transfer. Design An observational preimplementation and postimplementation design was used. Methods Assessment of the completeness and accuracy of information transfer during the PACU handoff was performed for a convenience samples of 100 patients preimplementation, 3 weeks postimplementation, and 3 months postimplementation. Findings The mean percentage of total handoff checklist items addressed significantly increased 3 weeks and 3 months postimplementation compared with baseline. Conclusions The use of a standardized anesthesia to PACU EMR-based handoff checklist significantly increased the percent of accurate information transferred without considerably affecting the duration of the PACU handoff process.