Toward Safer Transitions: A Curriculum to Teach and Assess Hospital-to-Hospice Handoffs

Abstract

ContextPatient handoffs are an increasingly emphasized skill in medical and nursing education, and handoff education is required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Traditional handoff tools lack content that is unique to hospice and palliative medicine. ObjectivesThe objective of the study was to develop a comprehensive curriculum to teach and assess patient handoffs in hospice and palliative medicine fellowships. MethodsEight hospice physicians, nurse practitioners, and nurses were interviewed to determine core content for a hospital-to-hospice handoff. This content was used to create a verbal handoff template and direct observation assessment tool, which were reviewed by the same hospice providers for content validity. The handoff template was taught to two groups of palliative medicine fellows and one group of internal medicine residents using an interactive didactic and role play, and feedback was obtained to further refine the curriculum. ResultsAfter refinement, the complete handoff curriculum (verbal handoff template, didactic with role play, assessment by faculty using direct observation tool) was successfully integrated into a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship, satisfying Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements related to transitions in care. ConclusionThe hospital-to-hospice handoff is a unique opportunity to teach patient safety in a palliative medicine context.