NCT01796756

Brief Summary

Miscommunication during patient handover can jeopardize patient safety and is the focus of Quality Improvement initiatives by many organizations. It is widely recognized that such miscommunication is preventable using a number of strategies identified in the literature. Currently, there is no formal handover process of General Internal Medicine in-patients, otherwise known as the Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) at Vancouver General Hospital, which is a major patient safety concern. This project will implement a formal handover program and evaluate whether there are changes in resident satisfaction with handover, but more importantly, whether the investigators can improve patient outcomes.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
1,168

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Jan 2013

Typical duration for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

January 1, 2013

Completed
1 month until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

February 14, 2013

Completed
8 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

February 22, 2013

Completed
2.7 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

November 1, 2015

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

November 1, 2015

Completed
Last Updated

January 15, 2016

Status Verified

January 1, 2016

Enrollment Period

2.8 years

First QC Date

February 14, 2013

Last Update Submit

January 14, 2016

Conditions

Keywords

HandoverHandoffSignoutQuality ImprovementGeneral Internal Medicine

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Proportion of patients handed over to the on-call resident/Clinical Associate (CA)

    5 months

Other Outcomes (7)

  • Proportion of patients the resident on-call did not receive information on that would have been useful

    5 months

  • Frequency of patients transferred to the ICU

    5 months

  • Frequency of patients referred to the Critical Care Outreach Team

    5 months

  • +4 more other outcomes

Study Arms (2)

Handover program

EXPERIMENTAL

Standardized handover program Dedicated place and time Template Face-to-face communication Evidence-based education session Feedback and audit

Other: Handover program

Usual handover practice

NO INTERVENTION

Interventions

Handover program

Eligibility Criteria

Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsChild (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Residents, medical students, and patients
  • Residents and medical students will be any rotating through General Internal Medicine at Vancouver General Hospital
  • Patients will be any admitted to General Internal Medicine and cared for during on-call hours (defined as 18:00 - 07:00)

You may not qualify if:

  • None for residents and medical students
  • Patients who are not being cared for during on-call hours (defined as 18:00 - 07:00)

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Vancouver General Hospital

Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9, Canada

Location

Related Publications (1)

  • Tam P, Nijjar AP, Fok M, Little C, Shingina A, Bittman J, Raghavan R, Khan NA. Structured patient handoff on an internal medicine ward: A cluster randomized control trial. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 19;13(4):e0195216. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195216. eCollection 2018.

Study Officials

  • Penny Tam, BSc, MD

    Vancouver General Hospital

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
SINGLE
Who Masked
CARE PROVIDER
Purpose
HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

February 14, 2013

First Posted

February 22, 2013

Study Start

January 1, 2013

Primary Completion

November 1, 2015

Study Completion

November 1, 2015

Last Updated

January 15, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-01

Locations