Episode 284: Perioperative Hand-offs with Jamie Sparling and Aalok Agarwala
Jun 5, 2024
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Experts Jamie Sparling and Aalok Agarwala discuss perioperative hand-offs, highlighting their importance in reducing harm. They cover the impact of hand-offs on patient safety, strategies for improvement, and the development of standardized tools. They also share recommendations on various topics outside of medicine.
Effective handoffs in perioperative care enhance patient safety through structured communication.
Collaboration with industry partners like Epic is vital for optimizing perioperative handoff practices.
Standardized protocols and cognitive aids can significantly improve patient outcomes and provider satisfaction in handoff processes.
Deep dives
Improving Handoffs with Unletted 88 and Nucleus Network
Unletted 88 offers a cheaper, cleaner, and greener fuel alternative at the pump, backed by Iowa Corn, making it a beneficial choice for consumers. Nucleus Network, conducting clinical research for 15 years, seeks participants with kidney impairment for upcoming studies, offering compensation up to $7,000. Clinical trial involvement could aid in advancing research on new medications for various medical conditions, providing a valuable opportunity for those with kidney disease to contribute to medical advancements.
Enhancing Handoff Communication with Perioperative Experts
The Anesthesia Critical Care podcast episode features expertise on perioperative handoffs with Dr. Jamie Sparling and Dr. Alok Agrawala discussing the significant impact of handoffs. Dr. Sparling's and Dr. Agrawala's experiences in anesthesiology at Massachusetts General Hospital Boston highlight their efforts to improve handoff processes, emphasizing the importance of effective communication and structured handoff tools for enhancing patient safety.
Insights on Perioperative Handoffs and Collaboration
The podcast showcases the Multi-center Handoff Collaborative's role in advancing perioperative handoff practices through collaboration with industry partners like Epic. Their development of the standardized intraoperative handoff tool and ongoing research initiatives aim to optimize handoff processes by creating a toolkit for institutions, fostering a culture of patient safety, and promoting the use of innovative technologies for handoff improvement.
Aligning Perioperative Practices with Evidence-Based Research
Efforts to reduce harm associated with handoffs involve implementing evidence-based strategies, such as standardized tools, educational programs, and cultural change initiatives as observed in research studies like Saha and Sagal's quality improvement project. Highlighting the potential of standardized protocols and cognitive aids to positively impact patient outcomes, provider satisfaction, and organizational safety culture.
Future Directions in Perioperative Handoffs and Patient Safety
Future initiatives in perioperative handoffs focus on creating awareness, expanding industry collaborations, and developing mobile tools for enhanced handoff communication. With ongoing research projects and AI applications, the aim is to establish an implementation toolkit for institutions, emphasizing restorative practices and teamwork in healthcare settings to drive improved patient care and organizational outcomes.
In this 284th episode I welcome Drs. Sparling and Agarwala to the show to discuss the importance of, and evidence for, perioperative hand-offs. We discuss what hand-offs are, what kinds of handoffs occur during the perioperative period, why they matter, how they can cause harm when poorly done, and how implementing good hand-offs can reduce harm.