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Electronic Patient Record use during ward rounds: a qualitative study of interaction between medical staff.
Crit Care. 2008 Nov 24;12(6):R148
Authors: Morrison C, Jones M, Blackwell A, Vuylsteke A
ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Electronic patient records are becoming more common in critical care. As their design and implementation are optimized for single-users rather than groups, we aimed to understand the differences in interaction between members of a multi-disciplinary team during ward rounds using an electronic, as opposed to paper, patient medical record. METHODS: A qualitative study of morning ward rounds of an intensive care unit that triangulates data from video-based interaction analysis, observation and interviews. RESULTS: Our analysis demonstrates several difficulties the ward round team faced when interacting with each other when using the electronic record compared to the paper one. The physical set-up of the technology may impede the consultant's ability to lead the ward round and prevent other clinical staff from contributing to discussions. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss technical and social solutions for minimizing the impact of introducing an electronic patient record, emphasizing the need to balance the two. We note that awareness of the effects of technology can enable ward round teams to adapt their formations and information sources to facilitate multi-disciplinary communication during the ward round.
PMID: 19025662 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]