Optimal Characteristics of an Obstetric Anesthesia Paper vs. Electronic Hand-Off Tool

Optimal Characteristics of an Obstetric Anesthesia Paper vs. Electronic Hand-Off Tool

Approximately 61% of vaginal deliveries utilize neuraxial (epidural or spinal) analgesia for labor pain relief. Hand-offs are commonplace in obstetric anesthesia practice. Unfortunately, communication failures are consistently cited as the leading root cause of sentinel events. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore optimal obstetric anesthesia hand-off characteristics and to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of a paper compared with an electronic hand-off template using face-to-face interviews with anesthesia team members.