Communication Preferences of Clinical Faculty at a Large, Tertiary Care

Abstract

Purpose of the Study: The primary communication method betweenphysicians has been the pager. Data on physician communication in the post-smartphone era have been limited to urgent information transfers. We aimed to evaluate communication preferences of a cohort of physicians for receiving non−health protected information (non-HPI) that is clinically relevant but not urgent. Methods: A survey was distributed to staff physicians at a large, academicmultispecialty center. Demographic information included age, gender, and specialty classification. The preferred method of communication of non-HPI, nonurgent, but clinically relevant information was elicited for multiple scenarios: 1) in the hospital, 2) on call, and 3) not on call. Response options included traditional page, text page, text message to a cellular phone, email, direct call, not applicable, and other. Results: The survey was sent to 1,860 physicians and 1,030 (55%)responded who participated in clinical care; 727 (71%) were in a medical specialty, 676 (66%) were male, and ages were evenly distributed. The majority of respondents (72%) preferred a text page when in the hospital or on call (43%); email was preferred when not on call (28%). We saw no difference in preferred method of communication during clinical duties or on call when stratifying by specialty, gender, or age. Direct calls were preferred while not on call in surgical subspecialties, males, and aged 30-34, 45-49, and 60-74 years. Conclusion: Although some hospital systems are moving towardsmartphone-based communication, the preference for receiving nonurgent clinical information was text page, despite stratification by specialty, gender, and age.