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Hand off a patient at sign-out

Use sign-out to hand a patient off to a covering provider with a structured I-PASS summary, and use the Sign-Out Inbox to see and acknowledge every patient you are covering.

Before you start​

You need sign-out access (physician-team roles). To send a hand-off, open the patient's chart first. To receive hand-offs, go to Clinical → Sign-out in the left navigation.

Steps​

Send a hand-off​

  1. Open the patient's Sign-out workspace — from the patient menu in the chart, or by clicking the patient's card in your Sign-Out Inbox. The Sign-Out: I-PASS composer opens.
  2. Choose the Illness severity: Stable, Watcher, or Unstable.
  3. Write the Patient summary — one-line demographics, admitting diagnosis, hospital course highlights, and current status. Quick-fill templates are available.
  4. Build the Action list — click Add for each to-do item the covering provider should complete.
  5. Add contingencies — the "if this happens, do that" instructions for overnight events.
  6. Choose who is covering in the Hand off to field. The on-call roster is offered first; you can also search the provider directory by name.
  7. Click Save draft to keep working later, or Send sign-out to deliver it. Send requires a summary and a recipient.

Work your Sign-Out Inbox​

  1. Click Sign-out in the left navigation. The header shows how many patients you're covering, with STAT and Urgent counts.
  2. Filter by priority (All, stat, urgent, routine) or search by patient, issue, or contingency.
  3. On each card, review the summary, active issues, and the amber Call if… contingency box.
  4. Click Acknowledge to confirm you've received the hand-off, or Open chart to go straight to the patient.

Tips / Troubleshooting​

  • The Send sign-out button stays disabled until both the summary and recipient are filled in.
  • Acknowledged hand-offs show a green Ack'd badge so the sending provider knows you have them.