Background: Despite a growing awareness that a standardized handoff tool is critical to providing safe and effective patient care, there are limited studies to assess the need for the development of such tools for anesthesia providers. Objectives: The purpose of this descriptive survey study was 1) to assess the need for a standardized handoff tool for anesthesia providers and 2) to identify the most essential components to develop an anesthesia handoff tool. Methods: A descriptive survey research design was utilized. Results: Of 82 responses, 53 (64%) reported that they did not currently use a systematic process during transfer of care for anesthesia. Most (73%) felt they were given inadequate information however, forty (48.8%) rarely gave inadequate information. Forty (48.8%) sometimes discovered something that wasn’t discussed. The most frequently provided components were airway type, airway difficulty, analgesia, anesthetic type, invasive lines, patient medical history, procedure, and vital signs. The most frequently received were airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, and procedure. The most essential components were airway type, airway difficulty, allergies, anesthetic type, invasive lines, patient medical history, procedure, and vital signs. Conclusions: Most participants perceive that anesthesia providers currently provide inadequate handoff. The most essential components to include in anesthesia handoff are airway difficulty, invasive lines, medical history, procedure/case-specific concerns, allergies, medications and plan/goals.

Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings of this study guide the proposal of a new anesthesia handoff tool named TIME (transaction, induction, maintenance, emergence) as a concise, efficient tool. This tool will create an efficient method to organize the important