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Cognitive Informatics in Health and Biomedicine pp 243–269Cite as

Falling Through the Cracks: Investigation of Care Continuity in Critical Care Handoffs

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Abstract

A handoff, in lay terms, refers to the act or instance of handing or transferring something to another person (to complete/to do). For instance, you hand the baton off to the next runner in a relay race. Handoffs are an everyday yet essential process in high-reliability, safety-critical settings that operate around the clock, such as between shifts at space shuttle mission controls [1, 2], nuclear power plants [3], railroad dispatch centers [4] and hospitals [5]. Regardless of the type of setting, a well-executed handoff process helps to maintain the continuity of work across shifts and between workers.

Portions of this chapter has been adapted from Abraham et al. Bridging gaps in handoffs: A continuity of care based approach, Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 45(2), 240–54, with permissions from Elsevier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois, 1919 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, USA

    Joanna Abraham PhD

  2. University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Khalid F. Almoosa MD, MS, FCCP

  3. Transplant Surgery ICU, Memorial Hermann Hospital, Texas Medical Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Khalid F. Almoosa MD, MS, FCCP

Authors
  1. Joanna Abraham PhD
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Correspondence to Joanna Abraham PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York Academy of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    Vimla L. Patel

  2. Arizona State University, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

    David R. Kaufman

  3. University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    Trevor Cohen

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Abraham, J., Almoosa, K.F. (2014). Falling Through the Cracks: Investigation of Care Continuity in Critical Care Handoffs. In: Patel, V., Kaufman, D., Cohen, T. (eds) Cognitive Informatics in Health and Biomedicine. Health Informatics. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5490-7_12

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