Automatizing the patient handoffs for inter-team communication will likely reduce the documentation and possible burn out by increasing direct patient time. 

At University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) inpatient service, residents used to create a separate Word document for the patients on Stroke and General Neurology Team on a shared secured server. This list included patient demographics, examination, pertinent labs and a “to-do” list. Neurology residents were surveyed about average time spent on creating and updating a handoff and average time spent with each patient during their regular shifts. Automated handoff templates were generated using electronic health record (EHR - Epic™) unique to each teams capturing pertinent information. After four months, the residents were surveyed.

On an average, resident's screen time was reduced from 7.66 hours to 4.5 hours per week (42% reduction). While 8/12 residents reported up to an additional 15 minutes per patient, 4/12 reported additional 15-30 minutes per patient. All residents (100%) felt that there was a significant improvement in the handoff and 92% felt that their daily routine was improved.  

Neurology has one of the highest rates of physician burnout (48%). Excessive clerical burden is one of the top reasons for physician unhappiness (71%). The most gratifying part of being a physician is interacting with patients (87%) according to a recent survey. In a larger teams caring for multiple patients, automated handoff templates can reduce the clerical burden and help reduce the burnout by providing meaningful patient time.