Table I.

Key Quotations Exemplifying Advantages of Morning Report (N = 12)

Theme	Exemplary Quotations
For the effective and safe exchange of information	“So that all seven of us [attendings] know all 60 patients on both services. That way the trauma back-up guy knows what's going on.” “It is the safest way to ensure a clean hand-off.”
To proactively address problems for the day ahead	“It is a good meeting. It is about an hour meeting in the morning and by the time you leave that meeting there are no surprises. Everything has been addressed, you know where the problems are for the day and it really makes the day go a lot smoother.”
For performance improvement	“We use it for performance improvement. If something happened last night that shouldn't have, we identify the issue. If we can do - if we can resolve it, we do, if we can't, we start the investigation piece.” “The cases are discussed every morning by an attending that is not involved with the actual care.”
To provide better continuity of care in the context of new resident work hour restrictions	“So with the new intern rules, what we have done is we have been able to design their night float start so that it can actually stay for morning reporting, at least hear about the cases.” “We know who is going to be downgraded from the ICU to come to the Ward or the IMC and we are all at least hearing what has been happening so we know, at least, for better continuity of care from that standpoint.” “We can get input from somebody who says, oh yeah. I did that operation two weeks ago even though they may not be working on the team this week or they may be in some other role but they can say, yeah, that anastomosis was shaky to begin with or whatever.”
To discuss patients with surgical sub-specialty teams	“The chairman of orthopedics and his residents come on Tuesday to touch base about plans for the week for the orthopedics.”
For trainee education	“I think there's a bunch of teaching that goes on in there and we use it for performance improvement. If something happened last night that shouldn't have, we identify the issue. If we can do - if we can resolve it, we do, if we can't, we start the investigation piece.”