The process of transferring primary responsibility for patient care is commonly referred to as a handoff. Handoffs are inherently dangerous times for patient safety due to discontinuity of providers and care delivery. This book offers health care organizations step-by-step instructions, sample forms, and insights to help standardize the patient transfer process. The book provides tips for implementing the SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) method, which has become widely accepted as a signout tool. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residency programs to address safe handoffs during training. An AHRQ WebMM commentary discussed the dangers of suboptimal handoffs.

In the 2003 report Safe Practices for Better Healthcare, the National Quality Forum (NQF) recommended 30 practices, one of which emphasized improved communication in the informed consent process. This report builds on that safe practice endorsement by summarizing strategies for rapid and widespread adoption. The report describes experiences from four hospitals that successfully implemented the practice and discusses common barriers and solutions involved. Recommendations are provided to guide health care organizations still striving to meet the requirement for an effective informed consent process.