Many factors contribute to exceptional patient care. Perhaps the most important factor is a patient's clinical team. When caring for a patient, clinicians strive to provide a positive, patient-centered care experience—one that allows for timely access to care, follows best practices, and is free from harm. However, even if a patient has a highly talented clinical team, if the handoff process is ineffective, the patient may not only have a negative care experience, but there's also a greater chance for error or harm. 

The most common issues with the handoff process are related to communication errors during the transfer of patient information from one clinician to another. Multiple reports from the Joint Commission determined that communication failures continue to be the cause of more than 70% of sentinel events.¹ A structured handoff procedure and the right tools can help improve the continuity and safety of patient care.

While the transition of patient information is complex, the process can be streamlined and improved with the use of a written handoff tool. To improve verbal and written communication, I-PASS developed the I-PASS Written Handoff Tool, a HIPAA-compliant solution that supports the day-to-day needs of handoff communication directly within your existing EHR environment and optimized by an Epic-certified I-PASS Informatics Specialist team. Next, we'll explain a few reasons why your institution's patient safety strategy needs a highly reliable written handoff tool.

Easily Accessible via Your EHR

Electronic health record (EHR) platforms play a critical role in providing critical and timely patient information. Relatedly, a core feature of the I-PASS Bundle is the ability to integrate with EHRs. The I-PASS Written Handoff Tool works natively inside your EHR—no separate platform or external integration required. The tool receives and displays real-time data from your EHR, which is integral to the most successful implementation, adoption, and sustainment of the I-PASS methodology.

Rather than adding a new system, I-PASS consultants optimize your EHR's own SmartText and SmartLink functionality to build I-PASS-structured handoff templates directly in the EHR your clinicians already use. SmartText overrides allow templates to display by specialty, location, or patient population—ensuring clinicians always see the most relevant handoff format for their context. With this native integration, clinicians can effectively facilitate routine and highly reliable handoffs of patient information and data. In addition, the I-PASS Written Handoff Tool comes with a library of pre-designed EHR I-PASS templates developed by clinicians for clinicians––the primary source of information used to support the verbal handoff process.

Seamless Customization, Reporting, and Sharing

Building unique handoff templates is a redundant and time-consuming task for the clinical team. I-PASS removes this burden for clinicians by providing a library of pre-built EHR I-PASS templates spanning major healthcare specialties, including emergency medicine, internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, ophthalmology, and more. Each template is designed to incorporate human factors principles and generate SmartLinks that display critical data elements in a compact, easy-to-read layout.

In addition, the templates are highly customizable and easy to update and change. Clinicians can mix and match templates, adjust font size, and adapt other criteria to meet the needs of each clinical unit. The templates can be quickly adapted and immediately applied in other care areas.

To support handoffs across the team, I-PASS EHR templates allow for easy and clean printing that clearly presents the data for each patient. Depending on their workflow, clinicians can choose a print view, sort by criteria such as illness severity or patient name, and toggle notes on or off.

Conserve Essential Resources

The I-PASS Written Handoff Tool lives directly in your native EHR system, putting you on a highly cost-effective path to measurably improve your patient safety culture and operate faster than if the clinical team were building templates individually. With the help of written handoff templates, you can streamline workflows and reduce resources. SmartLinks auto-populate critical data elements from the EHR, slashing minutes of manual data entry from multiple sources of information.

In addition to preserving clinical resources, your institution's IT department will also benefit. Because the tool sits inside your EHR rather than a separate platform, there is no additional system to manage or maintain. Also, since multiple care specialties can share and update the written handoff templates in real-time, there's no need for additional IT resources. To further ease the burden on internal teams, I-PASS provides an instructional guide that outlines design solutions in your EHR, so your staff isn't left navigating the build process alone.

Build upon the I-PASS bundle

The I-PASS Written Handoff Tool is a critical element of the I-PASS Bundle handoff methodology—anchored by the I-PASS suite of solutions, including three core features supported through digital platforms: learning, measurement, and EHR integration. With the Written Handoff Tool optimized directly in your EHR by an Epic-certified I-PASS Informatics Specialist team, it's even easier for institutions to implement and ultimately reduce communication failures during patient handoffs.

The I-PASS Written Handoff Tool is ideal for team-based care scenarios as it provides a structured solution for verbal and written communication. By leveraging tool, clinicians can easily adopt and sustain the I-PASS method across their institutions, increasing reliability and patient safety.

If your institution hasn't adopted the I-PASS methodology yet, the Written Handoff Tool would be included with the I-PASS Bundle. If your institution already utilizes I-PASS, our team can help you optimize the written tool as a valuable companion document for all handoffs.

For more information about implementing the I-PASS Written Handoff Tool alongside the I-PASS methodology, click here. 

1. Dingley C, Daugherty K, Derieg MK, et al. Improving Patient Safety Through Provider Communication Strategy Enhancements. In: Henriksen K, Battles JB, Keyes MA, et al., editors. Advances in Patient Safety: New Directions and Alternative Approaches (Vol. 3: Performance and Tools). Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2008 Aug.