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Smarter hospital communication: Secure smartphone text messaging improves provider satisfaction and perception of efficacy, workflow
Author(s) -
Przybylo Jennifer A.,
Wang Ange,
Loftus Pooja,
Evans Kambria H.,
Chu Isabella,
Shieh Lisa
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of hospital medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.128
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1553-5606
pISSN - 1553-5592
DOI - 10.1002/jhm.2228
Subject(s) - pager , paging , workflow , medicine , hospital medicine , protected health information , health insurance portability and accountability act , medical emergency , computer science , computer security , confidentiality , nursing , family medicine , database , computer network , health promotion , hrhis , public health
BACKGROUND Though current hospital paging systems are neither efficient (callbacks disrupt workflow), nor secure (pagers are not Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA]‐compliant), they are routinely used to communicate patient information. Smartphone‐based text messaging is a potentially more convenient and efficient mobile alternative; however, commercial cellular networks are also not secure. OBJECTIVE To determine if augmenting one‐way pagers with Medigram, a secure, HIPAA‐compliant group messaging (HCGM) application for smartphones, could improve hospital team communication. DESIGN Eight‐week prospective, cluster‐randomized, controlled trial SETTING Stanford Hospital INTERVENTION Three inpatient medicine teams used the HCGM application in addition to paging, while two inpatient medicine teams used paging only for intra‐team communication. MEASUREMENTS Baseline and post‐study surveys were collected from 22 control and 41 HCGM team members. RESULTS When compared with paging, HCGM was rated significantly ( P < 0.05) more effective in: (1) allowing users to communicate thoughts clearly ( P = 0.010) and efficiently ( P = 0.009) and (2) integrating into workflow during rounds ( P = 0.018) and patient discharge ( P = 0.012). Overall satisfaction with HCGM was significantly higher ( P = 0.003). 85% of HCGM team respondents said they would recommend using an HCGM system on the wards. CONCLUSIONS Smartphone‐based, HIPAA‐compliant group messaging applications improve provider perception of in‐hospital communication, while providing the information security that paging and commercial cellular networks do not. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2014;9:573–578. © 2014 The Authors Journal of Hospital Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Hospital Medicine