Smartphone Use and Professional Communication Among Medical Residents in Primary Care

The rapid integration and evolution of technology has impacted remote data access, dissemination of medical information, and use of applications (apps) for patient care and treatment. The aims of this study were to (1) describe patterns of smartphone use by residents in a rural clinical setting (both clinical and communicative patterns), (2) examine residents' perceptions of benefits of smartphone use, and (3) determine whether there is an association between smartphone use and organizational attributes.

Self-report surveys were administered to family medicine and internal medicine residents (N=39).

Descriptive analyses indicated that primary care residents used their pagers more often for communication, but also believed smartphones were more efficient, and increased accessibility and timeliness of attending physicians. Additional analyses suggested that smartphone use was not associated with chaos, and was negatively correlated with history of culture change within the organization.

Overall, use of smartphones among medical residents is relatively common, and residents believe there are numerous benefits of use. Future research might consider causal reasons why there is reduced communication among primary care practices with a history of change.