The use of technology for urgent clinician to clinician communications: a systematic review of the literature

Assessing intradisciplinary pharmacy communication related to transitions of care

Background

Pharmacists play an important role in transitions of care, where successful communication is vital. The primary objective of this study was to assess the extent of intradisciplinary communication between pharmacists during patient transitions of care. Secondary objectives were to evaluate pharmacist communication practices and to explore the potential barriers and facilitators to effective health communications.

Methods

A twenty item online survey was administered by email to all pharmacists practicing within a multisite regional healthcare system in central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Statistical analysis consisted of descriptive statistics for multiple choice, select all that apply, and Likert-type questions. Themes were summarized for open ended questions.

Results

A total of 132 (32%) pharmacists responded to the survey of which 90 responses were included in the analysis. The majority of pharmacists felt either extremely comfortable (53.3%) or somewhat comfortable (33.3%) reaching out to another pharmacist within the same health system. However, most contacted other pharmacy disciplines within the health system ≤25% of their work week. The ability to reach the pharmacist was the most important factor to pharmacist comfort (extremely important n = 56, somewhat important n = 27). Not knowing who to contact was the biggest barrier (44.8%). The electronic messaging systems Microsoft Teams (almost always n = 33, often n = 25) and TigerText (almost always n = 17, often n = 23) were the forms of communication utilized most often.

Conclusions

Pharmacists feel comfortable communicating with pharmacists across different entities within the health system, however, intradisciplinary communication related to transitions of care activities is limited. Improving awareness of system-wide pharmacist directories (34.2%) and distribution of pharmacist schedules (18.4%) were identified as tools that may improve communication.

The impact of eHealth on relationships and trust in primary care: a review of reviews

BACKGROUND

Given the increasing integration of digital health technologies in team-based primary care, this review aimed at understanding the impact of eHealth on patient-provider and provider-provider relationships.

METHODS

A review of reviews was conducted on three databases to identify papers published in English from 2008 onwards. The impact of different types of eHealth on relationships and trust and the factors influencing the impact were thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 79 reviews were included. Patient-provider relationships were discussed more frequently as compared to provider-provider relationships. Communication systems like telemedicine were the most discussed type of technology. eHealth was found to have both positive and negative impacts on relationships and/or trust. This impact was influenced by a range of patient-related, provider-related, technology-related, and organizational factors, such as patient sociodemographics, provider communication skills, technology design, and organizational technology implementation, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Recommendations are provided for effective and equitable technology selection, application, and training to optimize the impact of eHealth on relationships and trust. The review findings can inform providers' and policymakers' decision-making around the use of eHealth in primary care delivery to facilitate relationship-building.

Use of pager devices in New Zealand public hospitals as a critical communication tool: Barriers & way forward

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to analyse the current use, identify challenges and barriers and propose a way forward for the use of the pager devices in the in-hospital communications.

METHODS

Initially, 447 studies were identified through database searching. After checking against the eligibility, 39 studies were included. Full-text records were retrieved and reviewed by two authors. After excluding unrelated studies and duplicate records, a total of 12 articles were selected for the final review.

RESULTS

The use of pagers often lacks standardisation, content, format, urgency level, and clarity within the message. Some studies reported that medical staff preferred in-person interactions with consults instead of communicating over the phone or pagers. Productive communication can reduce the turnaround time by up to 50%. The key challenges are; (1) data security and privacy, (2) timely acknowledgement of received communication, (3) lack of two-way communications causing issues in critical care situations and (4) there is no standard process for the in-hospital communications.

CONCLUSION

We found that the clinicians' age, experience, speciality and preferences greatly matter and influence the selection of tools and technology in healthcare. With revolutionary advances in technology, smartphones have inevitably become beneficial to healthcare, owing to multiple instant messaging applications (apps) that can streamline encrypted clinical communication between medical teams and could be safely used for in-hospital communications.

Voting with Their Thumbs: Assessing Communication Technology Use by Medical, Nursing, Midwifery, and Allied Health Clinicians

BACKGROUND

Timely multidisciplinary communication is crucial to prevent patient harm related to miscommunication of clinical information. Many health care organizations provide secure communications systems; however, clinicians often use unapproved platforms on personal devices to communicate asynchronously.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to assess clinical communication behaviors by clinicians in a hospital setting.

METHODS

Medical, nursing and allied health staff working across seven hospital sites of a large health care organization were invited to complete an anonymous survey on the methods, behaviors, and rationale for clinical communication technology use. The survey included questions on communication methods used by clinicians for intra- and inter-disciplinary communication and sending and receiving clinical information or images. Demographics and qualitative comments were also collected.

RESULTS

A total of 836 surveys were completed (299 medical, 317 nursing, and 220 allied health staff). Staff in all clinical groups reported using an unapproved messaging platform to communicate patient information more than three times per day (medical staff n = 167, 55.9%; nursing staff n = 106, 33.4%; allied health staff n = 67, 30.5%). Not one medical staff member indicated they only use the approved methods (n = 0, 0%) while one-third of nursing and allied health respondents only used approved methods (n = 118, 37.2% and n = 64, 29.1%, respectively). All clinician groups reported wasted time from communications sent with missing information, or time spent waiting for responses for further information. Qualitative comments expressed dissatisfaction and frustration with current clinical communication methods and a desire for improved systems.

CONCLUSION

Workarounds are being used by all clinician groups to send text and image clinical communications. There are high levels of dissatisfaction with this situation and clinicians are keen for consistency and to have the right tools available. There is a need to ensure standardized clinical communication methods and approved digital platforms are in place and utilized to provide safe, high-quality patient care.

Health Care 4.0: A Vision for Smart and Connected Health Care

Industry 4.0 has transformed manufacturing industry into a new paradigm. In a manner similar to manufacturing, health care delivery is at the dawn of a foundational change into the new era of smart and connected health care, referred to as Health Care 4.0. In this paper, we discuss the historical evolution of Health Care 1.0 to 4.0, describe the characteristics of smart and connected care in Health Care 4.0, identify multiple research challenges and opportunities of Health Care 4.0 in terms of data, model, dynamics, and integration, and outline the implications of people, process, system and health outcomes. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented in the areas of (1) involvement of multiple disciplines and perspectives, (2) development of technologies and methodologies with combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches, (3) closed-loop integration of sociotechnical system, and (4) design of person-centered system with specific attention to human needs and health equity.

Clinician Perceptions on the Use of Free-Text Communication Orders

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate (1) why ordering clinicians use free-text orders to communicate medication information; (2) what risks physicians and nurses perceive when free-text orders are used for communicating medication information; and (3) how electronic health records (EHRs) could be improved to encourage the safe communication of medication information.

METHODS

We performed semi-structured, scenario-based interviews with eight physicians and eight nurses. Interview responses were analyzed and grouped into common themes.

RESULTS

Participants described eight reasons why clinicians use free-text medication orders, five risks relating to the use of free-text medication orders, and five recommendations for improving EHR medication-related communication. Poor usability, including reduced efficiency and limited functionality associated with structured order entry, was the primary reason clinicians used free-text orders to communicate medication information. Common risks to using free-text orders for medication communication included the increased likelihood of missing orders and the increased workload on nurses responsible for executing orders.

DISCUSSION

Clinicians' use of free-text orders is primarily due to limitations in the current structured order entry design. To encourage the safe communication of medication information between clinicians, the EHR's structured order entry must be redesigned to support clinicians' cognitive and workflow needs that are currently being addressed via the use of free-text orders.

CONCLUSION

Clinicians' use of free-text orders as a workaround to insufficient structured order entry can create unintended patient safety risks. Thoughtful solutions designed to address these workarounds can improve the medication ordering process and the subsequent medication administration process.

mHealth for image-based diagnostics of acute burns in resource-poor settings: studies on the role of experts and the accuracy of their assessments

Diagnostic assistance using mobile technology is instrumental to timely and adequate care in resource-scarce settings, particularly for acute burns. Little is known, however, as regards to how remote diagnostic consultation in burns affects the work process. This article reviews a doctoral thesis on this topic based on four studies conducted in the Western Cape, South Africa prior to and in a very early phase of the implementation of an app for burn remote diagnostic assistance. The aim was to increase knowledge on how remote diagnostic assistance for burn injuries can influence the role and work of medical experts in a resource-poor setting. The congruence model was used as a reference framework to study the ‘input’ (study 1), ‘tasks’ (studies 2 and 3) and ‘people’ (study 4) involved. The results show higher burn incidence in young children (75.4 per 10 000) and gender differences primarily among adults. The quality of images was considered by experts as better when viewed on smartphones and tablets than on computers. The accuracy of burn size assessments was high overall but low for burn depth (ICC = 0.82 and 0.53 respectively). Experts described four positions pertaining to remote consultations: clinical specialist, gatekeeper, mentor and educator. They perceived images as improving accuracy of consultation and stressed the need for verbal communication among clinicians during critical situations. In conclusion, experts are satisfied with the quality of images seen on handheld devices and can accurately assess burn size using these, yet burn depth assessment is more challenging without additional clinical information. mHealth for diagnostic assistance can benefit current image-based consultation by systematising information quality, introducing enhanced security and improved access to experts. Remaining challenges include the necessity of verbal communication in some instances and replacing existing informal organisational practices.

Customer relationship management systems (CRMS) in the healthcare environment: A systematic literature review

Customer relationship management (CRM) is an innovative technology that seeks to improve customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability by acquiring, developing, and maintaining effective customer relationships and interactions with stakeholders. Numerous researches on CRM have made significant progress in several areas such as telecommunications, banking, and manufacturing, but research specific to the healthcare environment is very limited. This systematic review aims to categorise, summarise, synthesise, and appraise the research on CRM in the healthcare environment, considering the absence of coherent and comprehensive scholarship of disparate data on CRM. Various databases were used to conduct a comprehensive search of studies that examine CRM in the healthcare environment (including hospitals, clinics, medical centres, and nursing homes). Analysis and evaluation of 19 carefully selected studies revealed three main research categories: (i) social CRM 'eCRM'; (ii) implementing CRMS; and (iii) adopting CRMS; with positive outcomes for CRM both in terms of patients relationship/communication with hospital, satisfaction, medical treatment/outcomes and empowerment and hospitals medical operation, productivity, cost, performance, efficiency and service quality. This is the first systematic review to comprehensively synthesise and summarise empirical evidence from disparate CRM research data (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed) in the healthcare environment. Our results revealed that substantial gaps exist in the knowledge of using CRM in the healthcare environment. Future research should focus on exploring: (i) other potential factors, such as patient characteristics, culture (of both the patient and hospital), knowledge management, trust, security, and privacy for implementing and adopting CRMS and (ii) other CRM categories, such as mobile CRM (mCRM) and data mining CRM.

Lessons Learned from a Pilot Study Implementing a Team-Based Messaging Application (Slack) to Improve Communication and Teamwork in Veterinary Medical Education

Communication skills are paramount for a successful veterinary curriculum. Technological advances have improved communication processes, and the way instruction is delivered. Yet, with these advances come challenges such as email overload, increased interruptions, and miscommunications. Time is a valuable commodity at any high caseload veterinary teaching hospital. When increasingly more time is spent sending and receiving emails, text messages, pages, and calls in lieu of more focused clinical teaching, then the modes of communication and traditional learning theories need to be evaluated. An effective mode of communication is needed to reduce information overload and miscommunication. This article describes lessons learned from a pilot study to determine if a team-based messaging application could improve a surgical team's communication by having all forms of transmitted media directly related to their scope of work accessible to everyone on the team in one real-time digital platform (Slack). Fifteen members of a university-based surgical team were enrolled into the study and provided with surveys at specific time points to evaluate the efficacy of an internet-based team communication tool during a 3-month period. Results of our study showed an overall perception of improved communication among team members when using a team-based communication platform. Recommendations are provided to address team member's underutilization of the platform, which resulted in duplicate messages and miscommunication. We conclude an initial adoption by staff members is essential when implementing significant shifts in communication platforms.

Evaluating the Impact of a New Smartphone Texting Tool on Patient Care in Obstetrics, an Emergent Healthcare Setting

BACKGROUND

Hospitals across the country are investing millions of dollars to adopt new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant secure text messaging systems. However, in nearly all cases, these implementations are occurring without evaluation of their impact on patient care.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate perceived impact on patient care and workflow of new text messaging system implemented in obstetrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and to inform guidelines for future implementations in emergent settings.

METHODS

A new HIPAA-compliant texting system was implemented in obstetrics in 2016. Before implementation of the new system, residents and nurses were surveyed on perceived effect of communication system (pagers with text receiving, service mobile phones, personal cell phones) on clinical workflow and patient care using 5-point Likert scale and open-ended questions. Following roll-out (1 and 6 months), both teams were surveyed with same questions. Results were compared using Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test (0-1 months and then 0-6 months). Open-ended question results were qualitatively compared for recurrent unifying themes.

RESULTS

In both nursing and resident domains, 1 month after implementation, the new communication system was perceived to significantly improve efficiency and patient care across all metrics. After 6 months, this effect decayed in nearly all categories (including efficiency, real-time communication, and knowledge of covering provider). The exception was nurse's knowledge of which resident to contact and resident's timely evaluation of patient, for which we observed sustained improvements. System shortcomings identified included interrupted connection (i.e., dropped calls), dysfunctional and inaccurate alert system, and unclear identification of the covering provider.

CONCLUSION

A new text-messaging-based communication system may improve efficiency and patient care in emergent settings, but system shortcomings can substantially erode potential benefits over time. We recommend implementers evaluate new systems for a set of specific functional requirements to increase probability of sustained improvement and decrease risk of poor patient outcomes.

Using an electronic tool to improve teamwork and interprofessional communication to meet the needs of complex hospitalized patients: A mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Teamwork and interprofessional communication are important in addressing the comprehensive care needs of complex hospitalized patients. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of an electronic interprofessional communication and collaboration platform on teamwork, communication, and adverse events in the hospital setting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this mixed methods study, we used a quasi-experimental design in the quantitative component and deployed the electronic tool in a staged fashion to 2 hospital wards 3 months apart. We measured teamwork, communication, and adverse events with Relational Coordination survey, video recordings of team rounds, and retrospective chart review. We conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews with clinicians to understand the perceived impacts of the electronic tool and other contextual factors.

RESULTS

Teamwork sustainably improved (overall Relational Coordination score improved from 3.68 at baseline to 3.84 at three and six months after intervention, p = 0.03) on ward 1. A small change in face-to-face communication pattern during team rounds was observed (making plans increased from 22% to 24%, p = 0.004) at 3 months on ward 1 but was not sustained at 6 months. Teamwork and communication did not change after the intervention on ward 2. There was no meaningful change to adverse event rates on either ward. Clinicians reported generally positive views about the electronic tool's impact but described non-technology factors on each ward that affected teamwork and communication.

CONCLUSION

The impact of using an electronic tool to improve teamwork and communication in the hospital setting appears mixed, but can be positive in some settings. Improving teamwork and communication likely require both appropriate technology and addressing non-technology factors.

Improving Standardization of Paging Communication Using Quality Improvement Methodology

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Paging is a primary mode of communication in hospitals, but message quality varies. With this project, we aimed to standardize paging, thus improving end user (EU) satisfaction, patient safety, and efficiency. Objectives were to increase the percent of pages containing 6 critical elements (CEs) (ie, the sender's first and last name, a 7-digit callback number, patient name, room number, and urgency indicator [information only, call, or come] to 90%); improve EU satisfaction to 80% rating paging communication as good or excellent; and decrease the frequency of safety events related to paging.

METHODS

This multidisciplinary, system-wide quality improvement study was conducted at our stand-alone academic children's hospital. CEs were determined by EU consensus. Outcome measures were inclusion of all 6 CEs, provider satisfaction, and frequency of safety events. Process measures were inclusion of individual CEs and appropriateness and timeliness of response to pages. Balancing measures included number of work-arounds (WAs). Interventions included education, engineering a platform with required fields, and optimization enhancements. Statistical process control charts (p-charts; XmR) were used to track the impact of interventions.

RESULTS

Special-cause improvement was noted in use of all 6 CEs (4.4%-79.7%) and individual CEs. EU satisfaction improved from 50% to 85% rating paging communication as good or excellent. Safety events related to paging remain infrequent. Specific WA use decreased by 60%.

CONCLUSIONS

System-wide use of required fields produced significant improvement in inclusion of all 6 CEs and EU satisfaction. WAs were curbed by improving the ease of CE incorporation. Required fields should be considered at institutions seeking improved paging communication.

Barriers to effective, safe communication and workflow between nurses and non-consultant hospital doctors during out-of-hours

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the nature and type of communication and workflow arrangements between nurses and doctors out-of-hours (OOH). Effective communication and workflow arrangements between nurses and doctors are essential to minimize risk in hospital settings, particularly in the out-of-hour's period. Timely patient flow is a priority for all healthcare organizations and the quality of communication and workflow arrangements influences patient safety.

Design

Qualitative descriptive design and data collection methods included focus groups and individual interviews.

Setting

A 500 bed tertiary referral acute hospital in Ireland.

Participants

Junior and senior Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors, staff nurses and nurse managers.

Results

Both nurses and doctors acknowledged the importance of good interdisciplinary communication and collaborative working, in sustaining effective workflow and enabling a supportive working environment and patient safety. Indeed, issues of safety and missed care OOH were found to be primarily due to difficulties of communication and workflow. Medical workflow OOH is often dependent on cues and communication to/from nursing. However, communication systems and, in particular the bleep system, considered central to the process of communication between doctors and nurses OOH, can contribute to workflow challenges and increased staff stress. It was reported as commonplace for routine work, that should be completed during normal hours, to fall into OOH when resources were most limited, further compounding risk to patient safety.

Conclusion

Enhancement of communication strategies between nurses and doctors has the potential to remove barriers to effective decision-making and patient flow.

Surgery nurses' telephone communication: a mixed methods study with a special focus on newcomers' calls

Aims

The aim of this study was (i) to document the main features of surgery nurses' telephone calls, with a special focus on newcomers' calls; and (ii) to identify the main activities accomplished during the newcomers' calls.

Design

Mixed methods study.

Methods

We audio recorded telephone calls internal to the hospital in two surgery nursing stations. We performed statistical descriptive analysis of the total collection of calls and of those specifically involving the newcomers and compared both sets. We also performed conversation analysis‐based coding of the main activities accomplished during newcomers' calls.

Results

Surgery nurses' telephone calls are extremely brief, predominantly nurse initiated and take place with a wide range of interlocutors who, for the most part, use mobile phones. The newcomers' calls are only slightly longer, take place with a more limited, but still wide, range of interlocutors and are even more often nurse initiated. The main activities of newcomers' calls are requests and activities related to connecting relevant interlocutors.

Physician communication via Internet-enabled technology: A systematic review

The use of Internet-enabled technology (information and communication technology such as smartphone applications) may enrich information exchange among providers and, consequently, improve health care delivery. The purpose of this systematic review was to gain a greater understanding of the role that Internet-enabled technology plays in enhancing communication among physicians. Studies were identified through a search in three electronic platforms: the Association for Computing Machinery Digital Library, ProQuest, and Web of Science. The search identified 5140 articles; of these, 21 met all inclusion criteria. In general, physicians were satisfied with Internet-enabled technology, but consensus was lacking regarding whether Internet-enabled technology improved efficiency or made a difference to clinical decision-making. Internet-enabled technology can play an important role in enhancing communication among physicians, but the extent of that benefit is influenced by (1) the impact of Internet-enabled technology on existing work practices, (2) the availability of adequate resources, and (3) the nature of institutional elements, such as privacy legislation.

Efficiency and Interpretability of Text Paging Communication for Medical Inpatients: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

This mixed-methods analysis investigates text page message content among clinicians regarding patient care with particular focus on efficiency and safety.

A clinician's artificial organ? Instant messaging applications in medical care

After the development of the first phone at the end of 19th century, communication technologies took a great leap forward in the 20th century. With the birth of the "smartphone" in the 21st century, communication technologies exponentially evolved and became an important part of our daily routine. Effective communications between clinicians is critical in medical care and miscommunications are a source of errors. Although telecommunication technologies have proliferated dramatically in the last decade, there is scarce evidence-based information on the use of this technology in medical care. For the purposes of medical communication, we can now consult each other about patients individually and within a group via instant messaging applications by using text messages, photos, audio messages and even videos. In this review, we examine the uses and drawbacks of instant messaging applications in medical communications.

mHealth: Mobile Technologies to Virtually Bring the Patient Into an Oncology Practice

Accompanied by the change in the traditional medical landscape, advances in wireless technology have led to the development of telehealth or mobile health (mHealth), which offers an unparalleled opportunity for health care providers to continually deliver high-quality care. This revolutionary shift makes the patient the consumer of health care and empowers patients to be the driving force of management of their own health through mobile devices and wearable technology. This article presents an overview of technology as it pertains to clinical practice considerations. Telemedicine is changing the way clinical care is delivered without regard for proximity to the patient, whereas nonclinical telehealth applications affect distance education for consumers or clinicians, meetings, research, continuing medical education, and health care management. Technology has the potential to reduce administrative burdens and improve both efficiency and quality of care delivery in the clinic. Finally, the potential for telehealth approaches as cost-effective ways to improve adherence to treatment is explored. As telehealth advances, health care providers must understand the fundamental framework for applying telehealth strategies to incorporate into successful clinical practice.

The m-Health revolution: Exploring perceived benefits of WhatsApp use in clinical practice

BACKGROUND

The dawn of m-Health facilitates new horizons of professional communication through WhatsApp, allowing health professionals to interact fast and efficiently for effective patient management. This preliminary study aimed to investigate perceived benefits, if any, of WhatsApp use across general medical and emergency teams during clinical practice in Malaysia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a universal sample of 307 health professionals comprising of nurses, medical assistants, medical residents, medical officers and physicians across medical and casualty departments in a Malaysian public hospital. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of items on socio-demographics, WhatsApp usage characteristics and the type of communication events during clinical practice.

RESULTS

The majority of respondents (68.4%) perceived WhatsApp as beneficial during clinical practice. In multivariate analysis, perceived benefits was significantly higher amongst the clinical management group (aOR=2.6, 95% CI 1.5-4.6, p=0.001), those using WhatsApp for >12months (aOR=1.7, 95% CI 1.0-3.0, p=0.047), those receiving response ≤15min to a new communication (aOR=1.9, 95% CI 1.1-3.2, p=0.017), and frequent information giving events (aOR=2.4, 95% CI 1.2-4.8, p=0.016).

CONCLUSION

Perceived benefits of WhatsApp use in clinical practice was significantly associated with usage characteristics and type of communication events. This study lays the foundation for quality improvement innovations in patient management delivered through m-Health technology.

Utilization of Workflow Process Maps to Analyze Gaps in Critical Event Notification at a Large, Urban Hospital

Stroke care is a time-sensitive workflow involving multiple specialties acting in unison, often relying on one-way paging systems to alert care providers. The goal of this study was to map and quantitatively evaluate such a system and address communication gaps with system improvements. A workflow process map of the stroke notification system at a large, urban hospital was created via observation and interviews with hospital staff. We recorded pager communication regarding 45 patients in the emergency department (ED), neuroradiology reading room (NRR), and a clinician residence (CR), categorizing transmissions as successful or unsuccessful (dropped or unintelligible). Data analysis and consultation with information technology staff and the vendor informed a quality intervention-replacing one paging antenna and adding another. Data from a 1-month post-intervention period was collected. Error rates before and after were compared using a chi-squared test. Seventy-five pages regarding 45 patients were recorded pre-intervention; 88 pages regarding 86 patients were recorded post-intervention. Initial transmission error rates in the ED, NRR, and CR were 40.0, 22.7, and 12.0 %. Post-intervention, error rates were 5.1, 18.8, and 1.1 %, a statistically significant improvement in the ED (p < 0.0001) and CR (p = 0.004) but not NRR (p = 0.208). This intervention resulted in measureable improvement in pager communication to the ED and CR. While results in the NRR were not significant, this intervention bolsters the utility of workflow process maps. The workflow process map effectively defined communication failure parameters, allowing for systematic testing and intervention to improve communication in essential clinical locations.

Optimizing Patient Surgical Management Using WhatsApp Application in the Italian Healthcare System

INTRODUCTION

Smartphones changed the method by which doctors communicate with each other, offer modern functionalities sensitive to the context of use, and can represent a valuable ally in the healthcare system. Studies have shown that WhatsApp™ application can facilitate communication within the healthcare team and provide the attending physician a constant oversight of activities performed by junior team members. The aim of the study was to use WhatsApp between two distant surgical teams involved in a program of elective surgery to verify if it facilitates communication, enhances learning, and improves patient care preserving their privacy.

METHODS

We conducted a focused group of surgeons over a 28-month period (from March 2013 to July 2015), and from September 2014 to July 2015, a group of selected specialists communicated healthcare matters through the newly founded "WhatsApp Surgery Group." Each patient enrolled in the study signed a consent form to let the team communicate his/her clinical data using WhatsApp. Communication between team members, response times, and types of messages were evaluated.

RESULTS

Forty six (n = 46) patients were enrolled in the study. A total of 1,053 images were used with an average of 78 images for each patient (range 41-143). 125 h of communication were recorded, generating 354 communication events. The expert surgeon had received the highest number of questions (P, 0.001), while the residents asked clinical questions (P, 0.001) and were the fastest responders to communications (P, 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our study investigated how two distant clinical teams may exploit such a communication system and quantifies both the direction and type of communication between surgeons. WhatsApp is a low cost, secure, and fast technology and it offers the opportunity to facilitate clinical and nonclinical communications, enhance learning, and improve patient care preserving their privacy.