Episode 42: The Virtual Ward


September 4, 2015

In this episode Dr. Sam Gharbi describes patient handover as a major issue in patient safety. He also introduces the Virtual Ward (now known as Arya Handover): a tool that he and his team developed to address issues around patient handover. In the past physicians worked long shifts in the hospital that resulted in medical errors, morbidity and mortality due to fatigue. Nowadays in Canada and the US work hour restrictions are put into place and force shift work. Despite the benefits for the healthcare providers this change has not resulted in large improvements in patient safety. Errors in medical care have shifted from one kind of error to another: error in patient handover. In our healthcare setting patient handover is often based on verbal communication without a standardized structured process. Often, information is passed on in a wordy and inefficient manner and as Sam explains the problem is twofold: lack of a culture around handover and lack of a process for teaching handover.

Sam and his team have recently built an electronic handover application to improve communication among healthcare professionals taking care of the same group of patients. The Virtual Ward has been implemented and it is used in different sites in Vancouver. Sam describes the features and the benefits of this innovative tool, and he is looking forward to studying the impact of this tool on patient safety.

After listening to this podcast listeners will be able to:
Understand the problems around patient handovers
Evaluate a need for a structured handover process
Know the benefits and features of the Virtual Ward

Dr. Sam Gharbi, MD
Dr. Sam Gharbi is an internal medicine staff physician and the associate chief medical information officer for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.  His main area of professional interest resides in improving patient outcomes & quality of care through the design and implementation of health information infrastructure and clinical information systems. He is also the co-founder of the Virtual Ward electronic patient handover system, which has been successfully implemented in various inpatient settings across Vancouver.

References
Li, P., Ali, S., Tang, C., Ghali W.A., Stelfox, H.T. (2013). Review of computerized physiciant handoff tools for improving the quality of patient care. J Hosp Med, 8(8), 456-63.

Read More 
IPASS study
Arya Handover website (previously Virtual Ward)