TXT@WORK: pediatric hospitalists and text messaging

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Physician Communication
• Healthcare Technology

Background:

• Limited research exists on physician-to-physician text messaging.
• Provider-patient text messaging communication is widely studied.
• Pediatric hospitalist text message use remains under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utilization of text messaging among pediatric hospitalists.
• To understand the patterns and preferences of text message communication in this group.

Main Methods:

• Anonymous electronic survey distributed via the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine Listserv.
• Survey assessed work-related text messaging habits and concerns.
• Data collected from 97 pediatric hospitalist respondents in February 2012.

Main Results:

• 91% of respondents used smartphones; over half sent/received work-related texts daily.
• Texts were frequently sent to other hospitalists, residents, and subspecialists.
• Concerns about privacy laws (46%) and receipt of protected health information (PHI) (30%) were common, with low institutional encryption use (11%).

Conclusions:

• Physicians utilize text messaging for rapid work-related communication.
• Significant concerns exist regarding PHI transfer via unsecured text messages and impact on work-life balance.
• Future studies should investigate text message accuracy, effectiveness, and patient privacy implications in hospital settings.