Abstract
BACKGROUND: Rapid response teams (RRTs) have been used by multiple hospital systems to enhance patient care and safety. However, processes to document rapid response events (RRE) are often varied among providers and teams, which can lead to suboptimal communication of recommendations to both the primary medical team and family.
METHODS: A preintervention chart review was conducted from January-March 2018 and revealed suboptimal baseline documentation following RREs. A literature review and survey of RRT team members led to the creation of a standardized document with an Epic SmartPhrase which included six key elements of RRE documentation: physical examination, intervention performed, response to intervention, plan of care, communication with care team, and communication with family. A postintervention chart review was completed from April-June 2019 to assess improvements in documentation with the use of this SmartPhrase.
RESULTS: There were 23 RRE activations in the postintervention period, of which 60.8% were due to respiratory distress. The documentation of the six key elements improved (p < .05) after SmartPhrase creation and serial educational interventions.
CONCLUSIONS: Standardized RRE documentation of six key elements significantly improved with the implementation of an Epic SmartPhrase. Improved quality of documentation enhances communication between team members and can contribute to safer patient care.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | E1-E6 |
| Journal | Journal for Healthcare Quality |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors acknowledge Michael Shyne, MS, and John Connett, PhD, from Clinical and Translational Science Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, for their statistical support and analysis. The authors thank Autumn Pace for data collection, Niyati Patel, MD, for assisting in the RRT Epic Smart Phrase upload.
Funding Information:
Supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grant UL1TR002494. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Association for Healthcare Quality
Keywords
- Communication
- Documentation
- Hospital rapid response team
- Patient care
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
