Improve Effective Communication

Effective communication reduces errors and results in improved patient safety. The most error-prone communications are patient care orders given verbally and those given over the telephone, when permitted under local laws or regulations. Another error-prone communication is the reporting back of critical test results, such as the clinical laboratory telephoning the healthcare organization to report the results of a critical lab value. Any healthcare organization should develop a policy and/or procedure for verbal and telephone orders that includes the writing down, legibly (or entering into a computer), the complete order or test result by the receiver of the information; the receiver reading back the order or test result; and the confirmation that what has been written down and read back is accurate.