Warm Handoff
Patient and Family Engagement in Primary Care
Slide 1: Warm Handoff
AHRQ Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families
Slide 2: Speaker
Kelly Smith, PhD
Scientific Director, Quality & Safety
Co-PI, AHRQ Guide to Improve Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families
kelly.m.smith@medstar.net
No financial conflicts of interest to disclose.
Slide 3: Objectives
- Review the key threats to patient safety in primary care settings and interventions to engage patients and families to improve safety.
- Describe the role and value of the Warm Handoff strategy in improving patient safety.
- Identify strategies for implementing the Warm Handoff strategy in primary care settings.
Slide 4: Guide – Project Goals
- Meaningful engagement with patients and families in ways that impact safety, not just quality.
- Based on evidence.
- Tools that are easy to use.
- Tools for practices who have not done much in this area.
Slide 5: Key Project Deliverables
- Environmental Scan.
- Four Case Studies of Exemplar Practices.
- Four Interventions to Improve Safety by PFE.
- Final Guide.
Slide 6: Key Threats & Promising Interventions
Threats to Patient Safety
- Breakdowns in communication.
- Medication management.
- Diagnosis and treatment.
- Fragmentation and environment of care.
Promising Interventions
- Shared Decisionmaking.
- Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFAC).
- Team-based Care.
- Medication Management.
- Family engagement in care.
- Structured communication tools.
Slide 7: Patient & Family Engagement in Primary Care
Image: Circle diagram with triangle in center demonstrating how strategies to engage patients and families can link the patient, clinicians, and practice staff together in a resilient relationship. The figure also shows that external factors such as the health care system, culture, community, and environment also play a role.
Slide 8: Four Interventions
- Teach-Back
- Be Prepared to be Engaged
- Medication Management
- Warm Handoff
Slide 9: What is the Warm Handoff Strategy?
- Strategy to encourage bi (or tri) directional communication with patients, family members and the care team.
- Moves conversations between healthcare team members in front of the patient.
- A safety check!
Slide 10: Why Use the Warm Handoff Strategy?
- Communication breakdowns are a key threat to patient safety.
- Miscommunication and omissions can lead to medical errors and adverse events.
- Use warm handoffs to:
- Increase patients’ understanding of the diagnosis and plan of care.
- Engage all members in team-based care, including patients and families.
- Validate and verify information exchanged.
- Reduce breakdowns in communication.
Slide 11: When should a Warm Handoff be used?
- After rooming patients.
- After the patient exam.
- Anytime during transitions in care such as with the
- Scheduler
- Lab technician
- Nurse educator
- Other team members
Slide 12: Getting Started
- Step 1 - Identify a Champion and get Leadership Buy-in.
- Step 2 - Develop processes for using Warm Handoff.
- Step 3 - Train team members and initiate implementation.
- Step 4 - Introduce the Warm Handoff to patients.
- Step 5 - Evaluate and refine.
Slide 13: Step 1. Leadership Buy-in
- Identify a Warm Handoff practice champion.
- Obtain leadership buy-in and support.
- Identify a process improvement team
- Engage a patient or two in developing your plan.
Slide 14: Step 2. Design Implementation
- Identify a team to help design processes for each of the Warm Handoff strategy tools.
- Identify resources for implementation.
Slide 15: Step 3. Orient Practice Staff
- Information about the Warm Handoff Strategy for:
- Practice Staff
- Clinicians
- Provide overview of resources available and how to use Warm Handoff to enhance engagement.
Slide 16: A Warm Handoff in Action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTL5ltGMUlQ&feature=youtu.be
Slide 17: Checklist for Staff
- Checklist to help support adoption.
- Guides the elements of the conversation between the Clinician and Practice Staff.
- Asks the Patient to engage in the conversation.
Slide 18: Clinician and Staff Handouts
Images: Clinician handout, which defines a warm handoff, explains how to do a warm handoff and why it is important.
Staff handout, which defines a warm handoff, explains how to do a warm handoff and why it is important.
Slide 19: Step 4. Orient Patients
- Orient the patient to the Warm Handoff Strategy
- Patient Fact Sheet.
- Discuss why it is important.
- Reinforce the need for patients to engage in discussions about their care.
Slide 20: Step 5. Evaluate & Refine
- Observations.
- Team debriefs.
- Simple counts.
Slide 21: How can the AHRQ PFE Guide help practices achieve success?
Image: Logic model showing PTN PFE performance dashboard domains and pratice assessment tool PFE metrics.
Slide 22: How Can I Get Started?
Image: Step chart illustrating steps to implement the Warm Handoff intervention.