BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patient handoffs in health care require transfer of information, responsibility, and authority between providers. Suboptimal patient handoffs pose a serious safety risk. Studies demonstrating the impact of improved patient handoffs on care failures are lacking. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a multihospital collaborative designed to decrease handoff-related care failures.METHODS: Twenty-three children' s hospitals participated in a quality improvement collaborative aimed at reducing handoff-related care failures. The improvement was guided by evidence-based recommendations regarding handoff intent and content, standardized handoff tools/methods, and clear transition of responsibility. Hospitals tailored handoff elements to locally important handoff types. Handoff-related care failures were compared between baseline and 3 intervention periods. Secondary outcomes measured compliance to specific change package elements and balancing measure of staff satisfaction. RESULTS:Twenty-three children' s hospitals evaluated 7864 handoffs over the 12-month study period. Handoff-related care failures decreased from baseline (25.8%) to the final intervention period (7.9%) (P , .05). Significant improvement was observed in every handoff type studied. Compliance to change package elements improved (achieving a common understanding about the patient from 86% to 96% [P , .05]; clear transition of responsibility from 92% to 96% [P , .05]; and minimized interruptions and distractions from 84% to 90% [P , .05]) as did overall satisfaction with the handoff (from 55% to 70% [P , .05]).CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a standardized evidence-based handoff process across 23 children' s hospitals resulted in a significant decrease in handoff-related care failures, observed over all handoff types. Compliance to critical components of the handoff process improved, as did provider satisfaction. Pediatrics 2014;134: e572-e579 AUTHORS:

OBJECTIVE:Family-centered rounds (FCR) have become increasingly prevalent in pediatric hospital settings. The objective of our study was to describe time use and discrete events during pediatric inpatient rounds by using a FCR model. METHODS:We conducted a prospective observational study at Children's National Medical Center between September 2010 and February 2011. Investigators directly observed rounds on hospitalist and neurology services. Events were timed, and key features were recorded by using a Microsoft Access-based program. Associations with increased time spent during rounds were determined by using regression analyses. RESULTS:One hundred fi fty-nine rounding encounters were observed. Rounds lasted 7.9 minutes on average per patient. An average of 1.3 minutes was spent between patients during rounds. Eighty-six (54%) encounters occurred outside the patient's room, 3% of the time because of the family's request. Infectious isolation was associated with rounds occurring outside the room (P < .0001). Participation of the parent, location of rounds inside or outside the patient's room, most teaching behaviors, and interruptions were not signifi cantly associated with increased time spent during rounds. Teaching physical examination techniques by allowing multiple trainees to examine the patient was associated with increased rounding time (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS:The majority of rounds occurred outside the patient's room, yet rarely at the parent's request. Patients on infectious isolation were more likely to have rounds occur outside the patient's room. Neither parental participation nor most teaching behaviors were associated with increased time spent on rounds. These fi ndings will enrich the evidence base needed to establish FCR best practices.

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