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Hospital doctors' workflow interruptions and activities: an observation study
Matthias Weigl1, Andreas Müller, Andrea Zupanc
1Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany. matthias.weigl@med.lmu.de
BMJ Quality & Safety
|January 11, 2011
Summary
Hospital doctors experience frequent workflow interruptions, primarily from telephones and pagers, impacting patient care. Understanding these disruptions is key to improving safety and efficiency in clinical settings.
Area of Science:
- Medical Informatics
- Healthcare Management
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Workflow interruptions are a significant stressor for hospital doctors, potentially compromising clinical performance and patient safety.
- Analyzing the frequency and circumstances of these interruptions is crucial for enhancing workplace safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify workflow interruptions experienced by hospital doctors.
- To identify the most frequent sources of these interruptions.
- To correlate interruption sources with the doctors' concurrent activities.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 32 participant observations of full work shifts in a typical hospital setting.
- Collected time-motion data on workflow interruption types and doctors' activities.
- Utilized logit-linear analyses to examine the relationship between activities and interruptions.
Main Results:
- Workflow interruptions were frequent, particularly in intensive care and emergency departments.
- Telephones and pagers were identified as the most common sources of interruption.
- The type of interruption was often dependent on the specific tasks doctors were performing.
Conclusions:
- The study presents a viable method for quantifying and categorizing sources of hospital doctors' workflow interruptions.
- Findings can increase awareness of organizational factors contributing to workflow disruptions.
- This approach can inform strategies to mitigate interruptions and improve clinical safety.
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