Researchers examined the effect of improved communication on compliance with infection control precautions during transitions of care. The researchers implemented two interventions for inpatient transfers between wards and radiology at a teaching hospital in Australia. One intervention was a pre-transfer checklist used by radiology porters to confirm a patient’s infectious status, and the second was a colored cue to highlight written infectious status information in the transfer form.
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In a period of four months, transfers using the colored cue had a compliance rate of 73 percent and transfers with the pre-transfer checklist had a compliance rate of 71 percent, while the control group had a 38 percent compliance rate. When both interventions were used, the compliance rate reached 74 percent — a 94.7 increase over the control group’s rate. However, while the colored cue was accepted, adherence to the checklist was at 40 percent.
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