Virtual Huddles: Improving Healthcare Team Participation and Patient Experience

Poor communication within the healthcare team often leads to negative patient outcomes and diminishes patient perception of quality care. Literature has shown that healthcare team communication has been inconsistent, contributing to worsened patient outcomes and negative patient perceptions of care. This project examined the effect of an asynchronous, standardized virtual huddle on healthcare team engagement and the patient experience, as compared to the usual static huddles. We compared pre-and post-scores over a four week implementation period for healthcare team member huddle participation and patient experience scores on a national level survey. Findings demonstrated a statistically significant difference in team member participation between in-person static and asynchronous virtual huddle huddles, and a statistically significant difference in patient experience scores after virtual huddle implementation. The use of a virtual huddle promoted more inclusive engagement in communication within a unit by interdisciplinary providers, and also demonstrated improved patient perceptions of care during the time of its use. Findings from this project support that novel virtual huddles improved healthcare team engagement and the patient experience and may promote safer delivery of healthcare.