Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital
Abstract Background Frequent pages can disrupt workflow, interrupt patient care, and may contribute to physician burnout. We hypothesized that paging volumes followed consistent temporal trends, regardless of the medical or surgical service, reflecting systems based issues present in our hospitals....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2019-12-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4844-0 |
| _version_ | 1818721378148286464 |
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| author | Luke Witherspoon Emily Nham Hamidreza Abdi Ali Dergham Thomas Skinner J. Stuart Oake James Watterson Luke T. Lavallée |
| author_facet | Luke Witherspoon Emily Nham Hamidreza Abdi Ali Dergham Thomas Skinner J. Stuart Oake James Watterson Luke T. Lavallée |
| author_sort | Luke Witherspoon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Frequent pages can disrupt workflow, interrupt patient care, and may contribute to physician burnout. We hypothesized that paging volumes followed consistent temporal trends, regardless of the medical or surgical service, reflecting systems based issues present in our hospitals. Methods A retrospective review of the hospital paging systems for 4 services at The Ottawa Hospital was performed. Resident paging data from April 1 to July 31, 2018 were collected for services with a single primary pager number including orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, neurology, and neurosurgery. Trends in paging volume during the 4-month period were examined. Variables examined included the location of origin of the page (emergency room vs. inpatient unit), and day/time of the page. Results During the study period, 25,797 pages were received by the 4 services, averaging 211 (± Standard Deviation (SD) 12) pages per day. 19,371 (75%) pages were from in-patient hospital units, while 6426 (24%) were pages from the emergency room. The median interval between pages across all specialties was 22:30 min. Emergency room pages peaked between 16:30 and 20:00, while in-patient units peaked between 17:30 and 18:30. Conclusions Each service experienced frequent paging with similar patterns of marked increases at specific times. This study identifies areas for future study about what the factors are that contribute to the paging patterns observed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:37:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3c15d6635ce946faa8e7bff3bc803a7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T20:37:47Z |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-3c15d6635ce946faa8e7bff3bc803a7c2022-12-21T21:33:23ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632019-12-011911610.1186/s12913-019-4844-0Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospitalLuke Witherspoon0Emily Nham1Hamidreza Abdi2Ali Dergham3Thomas Skinner4J. Stuart Oake5James Watterson6Luke T. Lavallée7Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaFaculty of Medicine, University of OttawaDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaFaculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Queen’s UniversityDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaDivision of Urology, Department of Surgery, The Ottawa Hospital and University of OttawaAbstract Background Frequent pages can disrupt workflow, interrupt patient care, and may contribute to physician burnout. We hypothesized that paging volumes followed consistent temporal trends, regardless of the medical or surgical service, reflecting systems based issues present in our hospitals. Methods A retrospective review of the hospital paging systems for 4 services at The Ottawa Hospital was performed. Resident paging data from April 1 to July 31, 2018 were collected for services with a single primary pager number including orthopaedic surgery, general surgery, neurology, and neurosurgery. Trends in paging volume during the 4-month period were examined. Variables examined included the location of origin of the page (emergency room vs. inpatient unit), and day/time of the page. Results During the study period, 25,797 pages were received by the 4 services, averaging 211 (± Standard Deviation (SD) 12) pages per day. 19,371 (75%) pages were from in-patient hospital units, while 6426 (24%) were pages from the emergency room. The median interval between pages across all specialties was 22:30 min. Emergency room pages peaked between 16:30 and 20:00, while in-patient units peaked between 17:30 and 18:30. Conclusions Each service experienced frequent paging with similar patterns of marked increases at specific times. This study identifies areas for future study about what the factors are that contribute to the paging patterns observed.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4844-0Medical educationMedical residencyPhysician burnoutPhysician paging |
| spellingShingle | Luke Witherspoon Emily Nham Hamidreza Abdi Ali Dergham Thomas Skinner J. Stuart Oake James Watterson Luke T. Lavallée Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital BMC Health Services Research Medical education Medical residency Physician burnout Physician paging |
| title | Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| title_full | Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| title_fullStr | Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| title_short | Is it time to rethink how we page physicians? Understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| title_sort | is it time to rethink how we page physicians understanding paging patterns in a tertiary care hospital |
| topic | Medical education Medical residency Physician burnout Physician paging |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-4844-0 |
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