Defining Best Practices for Interhospital Transfers

Introduction Interhospital transfers (IHT) are important yet high-risk transitions in care. Variable IHT processes and a lack of clarity around best practice may contribute to risk. To define the best practice principles for IHTs and identify improvement opportunities in the transfer process to our hospital's Cardiology services. Methods: Through literature review, interviews with experts and key stakeholders, a survey of health care professionals at our institution, and a failure modes effect analysis, we identified themes in IHT best practices and improvement opportunities. Results: We identified six critical elements of IHT: (1) initiation of transfer request; (2) the management of transfer request and information exchange; (3) updates between transfer acceptance and patient transport; (4) transport; (5) patient admission and information availability; and (6) measurement, evaluation, and feedback. Improvement opportunities were found in all elements. Conclusions: The standardization of these six critical elements may improve the safety of IHTs.