A regular feature of the American Journal of Critical Care, Clinical Evidence Review unveils available scientific evidence to answer questions faced in contemporary clinical practice. It is intended to support, refute, or shed light on health care practices where little evidence exists. To send an eLetter or to contribute to an online discussion about this article, visit www.ajcconline.org and click “Respond to This Article” on either the full-text or PDF view of the article. We welcome letters regarding this feature and encourage the submission of questions for future review.

Handoffs serve many functions, from social bonding, to coaching and teaching, to team building, but the most important function of handoffs is information processing: making sure that essential data are transferred for patient safety. Substandard or variable handoffs have contributed to errors, care omissions, treatment delays, inefficiencies from repeated work, inappropriate treatment, adverse events with minor or major harm, increased...

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