Patient Harm From Problem 'Handoffs' Is Common: Report

HealthDay, September, 2008 by Kevin McKeever

The process of transferring the care of a hospitalized patient from one resident to another tends to cause some amount of harm to the patient, a new study suggests.

"Our findings suggest that patient harm from problematic handoffs is common. In fact, problematic handoffs may be as significant a source of serious patient harm as are medication-related events," lead study author Dr. Barry Kitch of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Policy and Harvard Medical School, said in a news release from the hospital.

The study, published in the October Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety , strengthens several previous studies that found "handoffs" can contribute to preventable injuries not resulting from a patient's underlying medical...