Grant: Operating Grant: Transitions in Care - Evaluation Grants

Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are very sick. When a patient leaves the ICU it is important that doctors and other healthcare providers have an effective way to communicate between themselves to share important information, like new medical problems or new medications. Often, the doctor taking charge of the patient's care, or the 'receiving' doctor, will not have met or been involved in the patient's care up to that point. Because of this, it is crucial that ICU doctors and nurses have an effective way to share important information about the patient with the 'receiving' doctor. It is also important that this method be easy to share with other ICUs in other regions to streamline communication and information about the patient after they leave the ICU. The goal of this study is to evaluate and improve an electronic tool that enables ICU doctors and nurses to create and share electronic transfer documents when patients leave the ICU. The tool was recently implemented in four (4) ICUs in Calgary, AB. This study will explore the capacity of the tool to improve the quality of communication between ICU and 'receiving' doctors and nurses. It will also investigate whether using the tool improves the quality of care patients receive as they move between healthcare teams and locations. Once evaluated, the tool will be updated to create the best version possible. The final step will be creating a plan to share the new, updated tool with ICUS across the province of Alberta, and eventually the rest of Canada. Overall, we expect that this tool will improve the outcomes of patients who leave the ICU by facilitating the quality and exchange of information between ICU and 'receiving' doctors and establishing a standardized process for patients leaving the ICU.