Answering clinical questions in the ED

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Practice
• Information Science

Background:

• Physicians frequently encounter patient-related questions during clinical practice.
• Answering these questions at the point of care is crucial for optimal patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify patient-related questions faced by emergency medicine physicians.
• To investigate how these questions are addressed at the point of care.

Main Methods:

• An observational study involving 26 physicians across two institutions.
• Data collection included the number and type of questions, answer success rates, resources utilized, and barriers encountered.

Main Results:

• Physicians encountered approximately 5 questions per 8-hour shift.
• 81% of questions were pursued, with an 87% success rate.
• Drug information resources (PDA, pharmacopeia) and electronic resources (Google, UpToDate) were most frequently used.

Conclusions:

• Emergency department physicians successfully answer the majority of point-of-care questions.
• Timely access to electronic resources and drug-prescribing references is vital for efficient question resolution.