1. Improving Inpatient Consult Communication Through a Standardized Tool.
- Author
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Pavitt S, McHugh A, Chi K, Hoang K, Lippner E, Tsai J, Goldstein R, Bassett H, and Srinivas NS
- Subjects
- Child, Humans, Communication, Inpatients, Internship and Residency, Pediatrics education, Referral and Consultation standards
- Abstract
Objectives: To increase the number of essential consult elements (ECEs) included in initial inpatient consultation requests between pediatric residents and fellows through implementation of a novel consult communication tool., Methods: Literature review and previous needs assessment of pediatric residents and fellows were used to identify 4 specific ECEs. From February to June 2018, fellows audited verbal consult requests at a medium-sized, quaternary care children's hospital to determine the baseline percentage of ECE components within consults. A novel consult communication tool containing all ECEs was then developed by using a modified situation-background-assessment-recommendation (SBAR) format. The SBAR tool was implemented over 3 plan-do-study-act cycles. Adherence to SBAR, inclusion of ECEs, and consult question clarity were tracked via audits of consult requests. A pre- and postintervention survey of residents and fellows was used to examine perceived miscommunication and patient care errors and overall satisfaction., Results: The median percentage of consults containing ≥3 ECEs increased from 50% preintervention to 100% postintervention with consult question clarity increasing from 52% to 92% ( P < .001). Overall perception of consult miscommunication frequency decreased (52% vs 18%; P < .01), although there was no significant change in resident- or fellow-reported patient errors. SBAR maintained residents' already high consult satisfaction (96% vs 92%; P = .39) and increased fellows' consult satisfaction (51% vs 91%; P < .001)., Conclusions: Implementation of a standardized consult communication tool resulted in increased inclusion of ECEs. Use of the tool led to greater consult question clarity, decreased perceived miscommunication, and improved overall consult satisfaction., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)
- Published
- 2021
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