New Study Reveals Link Between Handoffs and Claims

Healthcare Risk Management reports on a large study conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) in which researchers reviewed 498 medical malpractice claims provided by Candello, CRICO’s national medical malpractice collaborative. The work revealed a direct relationship between the quality of patient handoffs and claims.

Of the cases that involved communication failures, the BCH researchers found that 40% included a handoff of care. Of those cases involving patient handoffs, 77% likely were preventable with a handoff tool developed by the I-PASS Patient Safety Institute. Additionally, malpractice cases involving communication errors were more expensive to defend.

Citation for the Full-text Article

Improving patient handoffs helps reduce malpractice claims. Healthcare Risk Management. March 1, 2022. Available at https://www.reliasmedia.com/articles/149130-improving-patient-handoffs-helps-reduce-malpractice-claims