Mobile device use among emergency department healthcare professionals: prevalence, utilization and attitudes

Abstract

Mobile devices are increasingly permeating healthcare and are being regularly used by healthcare providers. We examined the prevalence and frequency of mobile device use, and perceptions around clinical and personal usage, among healthcare providers (attending physicians, residents, and nurses) in the Emergency Department (ED) of a large academic medical center in Lebanon. Half of the target population (N = 236) completed the cross-sectional electronic questionnaire. Mobile device usage for personal matters was uniform across all providers, with the highest usage reported by medical students (81.3%) and lowest by attendings (75.0%). Medical formulary/drug referencing applications were the most common application used by providers followed by disease diagnosis/management applications, 84.4% and 69.5% respectively. Most respondents agreed that mobile devices enabled better-coordinated care among providers and were beneficial to patient care. Most respondents also agreed that mobile device use assisted in quickly resolving personal issues and reduced their feeling of stress, yet the majority did not feel that personal usage improved performance at work. Study findings revealed that although healthcare providers value mobile devices’ positive impact on coordination of care, the reverse spillover effect of personal issues into the workplace enabled by mobile devices might have some negative impact on performance of staff at work.

Mobile Health Apps Providing Information on Drugs for Adult Emergency Care: Systematic Search on App Stores and Content Analysis

“…Nevertheless, when these devices are used properly, they have enormous potential to improve medical practice, for instance, by allowing quick access to relevant and evidence-based information, which facilitates decision-making and can help reduce error rates. In a recent survey of professionals in an emergency department, most respondents found mobile devices useful for better coordinating care among providers and beneficial for patient care [ 10 ].…”

“…A desirable feature of these apps is that they can be used quickly because of the need to provide a rapid response to the broad spectrum of clinical scenarios occurring in emergency departments. Recent studies on mobile devices and medical apps in emergency rooms [ 9 , 10 ] have shown that the apps most frequently used by emergency health professionals are medical formulary and drug-referencing apps (84.4%), followed by disease diagnosis and management apps (69.5%) [ 10 ].…”

Mobile app helps trainees manage emergencies at the bedside

“…There is growing evidence that health care professionals are becoming more and more open to using medical apps to help guide patient care 13–16 . Studies have also shown that residents can improve adherence to guidelines for low‐frequency, high‐acuity emergencies with the help of tech‐enabled solutions 17,18 .…”

STAT: Mobile app helps clinicians manage inpatient emergencies

“…Its popularity and positive reception among surveyed resident physicians may be in part due to a general acceptance of medical apps by healthcare professionals to help guide patient care. 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 Survey results also show that all users would recommend STAT to less experienced clinicians, since the vast majority felt it was easy to use, helped them better manage emergencies at the point-of-care, and would lead to better patient outcomes.…”