Clinical Handover among Physicians: A Survey in a North Eastern Italian Academic Hospital

Abstract

Transferring essential information and responsibility for patient care from one health care provider to another is an integral component of patient safety in a hospital. This study aims to collect physician interests and needs about handover before introduction of a standardized tool in a North Eastern Italian Academic Hospital (AH). From October 2014 to December 2014 all physicians working in the AH were asked to fill a web-based questionnaire concerning currently adopted methods to clinical handover and their perception on its. Response rate was 10.5% (90/853). 63.3% (57/90) of physicians showed maximal agreement with the statement “communication failures are related to adverse events” and 40% (36/90) of them completely agreed that “improving handover makes work safer”. Among actually used handover methods (total answers: 157), verbal communication was referred 45.2% times, written notes 26.1%, electronic supports 21.7%. The most frequently reported obstacles to an effective handover (107 answers) were interruptions (27.1%), absence of hospital written protocols (25.2%) and colleague’s inability to provide further information when required (17.7%). Respondents interested to test a new handover procedure were 48.9% (44/90). The low response rate and the fact that only half of respondents were interested in experimenting a new procedure stress the little relevance given by physicians to handover as a key process for patient safety. Furthermore, hazardous methods of transferring information such as verbal communication and non-structured text, combined with referred handover obstacles, suggest the necessity of developing a hospital policy for clinical handover among physicians.