Electronic Health Record Messaging Patterns of Health Care Professionals in Inpatient Medicine

Small, William; Iturrate, Eduardo; Austrian, Jonathan; Genes, Nicholas

doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.49136

JAMA Netw Open

2023

DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.49136

|View full text |Cite

Electronic Health Record Messaging Patterns of Health Care Professionals in Inpatient Medicine

William Small,

Eduardo Iturrate,

Jonathan Austrian

et al.

Abstract: This cross-sectional study examines secure messaging patterns among health care professionals in the internal medicine inpatient setting.

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...

Citation Types

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Year Published

2023

2025

Publication Types

Select...

Article5

Relationship

Self Cite0

Independent5

Authors

Journals

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

A Window Into Inpatient Health Care Delivery Through Secure Message Logs—Tracing the Latest Breadcrumbs of the Electronic Health Record

Rotenstein,

Sen

2023

JAMA Netw Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Window Into Inpatient Health Care Delivery Through Secure Message Logs—Tracing the Latest Breadcrumbs of the Electronic Health Record

Rotenstein,

Sen

2023

JAMA Netw Open

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Characterizing electronic messaging use among hospitalists and its association with patient volumes

Brickson,

Keniston,

Knees

et al. 2024

Journal of Hospital Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundSecure electronic messaging is increasingly being utilized for communications in healthcare settings. While it likely increases efficiency, it has also been associated with interruptions, high message volumes, and risk of errors due to multitasking.ObjectivesWe aimed to characterize patterns of secure messaging among hospitalists to understand the volume of messages, message patterns, and impact on hospitalist workload.MethodsThis was a retrospective cross‐sectional study of Epic Secure Chat secure electronic messages received and sent by hospitalists from April 1 to April 30, 2023 at a large academic medical center. Number of conversations per day, number of chats sent and accessed per hour, and average minutes between when a chat was sent and accessed (lag time) were analyzed using a Pearson correlation coefficient test. Measures were plotted against patient volume and time of day.ResultsHospitalists sent or received an average of 130 messages per day with an average of 13 messages sent or received per hour. The median lag time was 39 s. There was a statistically significant correlation between hospital medicine morning census and number of conversations per day, number of chats sent per hour, and number of chats accessed per hour, but census did not impact lag time.ConclusionSecure messaging volumes may be higher than previously reported, which may affect hospitalist workload and workflow and have unintended effects on interruptions, multitasking, and medical errors. Additional work should be done to better understand local messaging patterns and opportunities to optimize volume of work and distractions.

show abstract

Academic hospitalist perspectives on the benefits and challenges of secure messaging: A mixed methods analysis

Knees,

Keniston,

et al. 2024

Journal of Hospital Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundHospitals and patients rely on effective clinician communication. Asynchronous electronic secure messaging (SM) systems are a common way for hospitalists to communicate, but few studies have evaluated how hospitalists are navigating the adoption of SM and the benefits and challenges they are encountering.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to assess academic hospitalist perspectives on SM to guide future research and quality improvement initiatives.MethodsThis was a mixed methods study utilizing an embedded REDCap survey and six virtual semistructured focus groups. It took place during a Hospital Medicine ReEngineering Network Zoom meeting on October 13, 2023. Rapid qualitative methods were used to define major themes.ResultsThere were 28 hospitalists and one patient representative across 24 separate academic institutions. There was a 71% survey completion rate (N = 20). SM was felt to be an effective and efficient communication modality but was associated with a large amount of multitasking and interruptions. Perspectives around SM clustered around three main themes: SM has been widely but variably adopted; there is a lack of institutional guidance about how to best engage with SM; and SM is changing the landscape of hospitalist work by increasing ease but decreasing depth of communication, increasing cognitive load, and changing interpersonal relationships. Recommendations for SM improvements included the need for institutions to work with frontline workers to develop and implement clear usage guidelines.ConclusionSM is likely contributing to both positive and negative effects for clinicians and patients. Understanding hospitalist perspectives on SM will help guide future research and quality improvement initiatives.

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

customersupport@researchsolutions.com

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Electronic Health Record Messaging Patterns of Health Care Professionals in Inpatient Medicine

Abstract: This cross-sectional study examines secure messaging patterns among health care professionals in the internal medicine inpatient setting.

Cited by 7 publications

References 4 publications

A Window Into Inpatient Health Care Delivery Through Secure Message Logs—Tracing the Latest Breadcrumbs of the Electronic Health Record

A Window Into Inpatient Health Care Delivery Through Secure Message Logs—Tracing the Latest Breadcrumbs of the Electronic Health Record

Characterizing electronic messaging use among hospitalists and its association with patient volumes

Academic hospitalist perspectives on the benefits and challenges of secure messaging: A mixed methods analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About