Transitions of care between physicians and from inpatient to outpatient settings leave patients vulnerable to medical errors and adverse events. A transitions of care workshop consisting of 2 sessions, Sign-Out Success (SOS) and Transition To Home (TTH), taught sign-out and discharge skills to incoming internal medicine interns during orientation. The workshop used role-playing exercises, didactics, demonstrations, and peer and self-evaluations. Interns completed a survey at 3 months post workshop. Using pre-post workshop measures, SOS increased the quality of intern-rated sign-outs (P = .004). Interns reported more confidence in their ability to effectively sign out (P = .016) and a greater understanding of problems that might arise while on call (P = .012). TTH increased intern-reported confidence in their ability to communicate discharge instructions (P < .001) and to verify patient understanding of instructions (P < .001). A majority reported using SOS and TTH skills 3 months post workshop. This workshop may be replicable at other institutions.
Keywords: discharges; handoffs; physician–patient communication; sign-out success; sign-outs; transition to home; transitions of care.
© 2013 by the American College of Medical Quality.