A multidisciplinary team developed a tool within the EMR to ensure a standardized treatment handoff process for nurses taking care of cancer patients. Researchers analyzed outcomes before and after implementation of the tool, over a one-year period.
The handoff tool was used in 85 percent of patient treatment visits, and the rate of handoffs completed increased from 32 percent pre-intervention to 86 percent postintervention.
Researchers found that the proportion of medication errors as a result of ineffective handoffs reduced from 60 percent before implementation of the tool to 32 percent after the implementation. Patient wait time showed an average reduction of 2 minutes per patient per month.
Eighty-five percent of nurses reported that the new tool conveyed necessary information for the handoff process, and 81 percent said it was effective in preventing errors.
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