A handoff is not a telegram: An understanding of the patient is co-constructed

Michael D. Cohen; Brian Hilligoss; André C. Kajdacsy-Balla Amaral

doi:10.1186/cc10536

A handoff is not a telegram: An understanding of the patient is co-constructed

Michael D. Cohen, Brian Hilligoss, André C. Kajdacsy-Balla Amaral

Management and Organizations

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

91 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hospital handoffs are believed to be a key locus of communication breakdown that can endanger patient safety and undermine quality of care. Substantial new efforts to better understand handoffs and to improve handoff practices are under way. Many such efforts appear to be seriously hampered, however, by an underlying presumption that the essential function of a handoff is one-way information transmission. Here, we examine social science literature that supports a richer framing of handoff conversations, one that characterizes them as co-constructions of an understanding of the patient.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	303
Journal	Critical Care
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/cc10536
State	Published - Feb 8 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine

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10.1186/cc10536

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A handoff is not a telegram: An understanding of the patient is co-constructed

Abstract

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