Eastern association for the surgery of trauma - quality, patient safety, and outcomes committee - transitions of care: healthcare handoffs in trauma.

BACKGROUND: Handoffs are defined as the transfer of patient information, professional responsibility, and accountability between caregivers. This work aims to clarify the current state of transitions of care related to the management of trauma patients. METHODS: A PubMed database and web search were performed for articles published between 2000 and 2020 related to handoffs and transitions of care. The key search terms used were: handoff(s), handoff(s) AND healthcare, and handoff(s) AND trauma. A total of 55 studies were included in qualitative synthesis. RESULTS: This systematic review explores the current state of healthcare handoffs for trauma patients. Factors found to impact successful handoffs included process standardization, team member accountability, effective communication, and the incorporation of culture. This review was limited by the small number of prospective randomized studies available on the topic. CONCLUSION: Handoffs in trauma care have been studied and should be utilized in the context of published experience and practice. Standardization when applied with accountability has proven benefit to reduce communication errors during these transfers of care.