I-PASS

According to an article from Market Watch, a new patient safety and medical education initiative has come to light that can reduce medical mistakes by as much as 40 percent.  

The initiative, called I-PASS, would improve how patient care is “handed off” during hospital shift changes.  

I-PASS was developed at Boston Children’s Hospital and is being tested in 10 pediatric training programs across the country. 

The curriculum looks to improve communication during residents’ shift changes. The goal is to have incoming doctors accurately briefed on each patient’s status, medical history and what treatment plan they are on.  

According to the article, 70 percent of sentinel events come from poor miscommunication, which can happen during handoffs.  

I-PASS stands for:

I: Illness severity;

P: Patient summary;

A: Action list for the next team;

S: Situation awareness and contingency plan;

S: Synthesis and “read-back” of the information  

The pilot study performed found that the introduction of the new safety initiative reduced medical errors by 40 percent .It was also discovered that doctors spent more time with their patients and less time on the computer.  

Residents are trained using I-PASS by taking a three hour workshop that includes role-plays and simulations where they give and receive handoffs during real-life scenarios. 

Snyder and Wenner, P.C.

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Phoenix, AZ 85016

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