Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Operating room (OR) handoffs are not universally standardized, although standardized sign outs have been proven to provide effective communication in other aspects of healthcare. We hypothesize that creating a standardized handoff will improve communication between OR staff. ⋯ Little communication standardization exists within the OR, especially regarding intraoperative staff changes. Implementation of a standardized handoff between surgical technicians resulted in substantial improvement in critical communication during staff changes.