Joint Commission

A 2005 study of sentinel events reported to the Joint Commission by accredited health care organizations revealed that a staggering 70 percent resulted from communication problems. Studies show that at least half of these communication breakdowns occur during patient hand-offs.

The Joint Commission now requires a standardized reporting template for hand-offs. Expectations note that hospitals should limit interruptions, allow sufficient time for communication and include a process for verifying information between caregivers. The Joint Commission also emphasizes the importance of monitoring and performance improvement activities to ensure ongoing compliance.

OptiVox^® addresses all major expectations of the Joint Commission's Patient Safety Goal 02.05.01 regarding interdisciplinary hand-off communications, including:

	Standardized approach to hand-off communication
	Method to ensure accurate and up-to-date information
	Process to verify received information
	Method to minimize interruptions during transfer of information
	Ability to review relevant information
	Opportunity to ask and respond to questions

OptiVox is a corporate underwriter of the Joint Commission's national conference in 2009, held in Chicago on September 14-16.

Click here to read complete details on how OptiVox complies with the Joint Commission's Patient Safety Goal 02.05.01. [PDF document]

The technology is also discussed in the Joint Commission's 2007 best-selling manual, "Improving Hand-Off Communication".

Proven Results

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