Finding answers: information needs of a multidisciplinary patient care team in an emergency department

Emergency Departments (ED) are fast-paced, information-intensive environments where patient care team members must address their information needs quickly and accurately. We conducted a qualitative field study of an ED team in a rural hospital to understand their information needs. We observed that the most commonly asked questions related to patient specific information but that they also had number of organizational questions. We also found that non-clinical members of the team, such as the unit secretary, played a critical role in helping find needed information.