Primary Care Physician Preferences Regarding Communication from Orthopaedic Surgeons

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Primary Care Medicine
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Musculoskeletal consultations are increasing in primary care.
• Effective communication between primary care physicians (PCPs) and orthopaedists can mitigate electronic medical record (EMR) burden and physician burnout.
• PCP preferences for orthopaedist communication methods are not well-understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate PCP preferences for communication from orthopaedic surgeons within a large health network.
• To identify preferred communication methods in various clinical scenarios.
• To explore associations between PCP characteristics and communication preferences.

Main Methods:

• A survey was administered to 175 PCPs across 15 practices utilizing the Epic EMR system.
• PCPs rated the importance of orthopaedist communication in specific scenarios using Likert scales.
• Preferred communication methods and overall interest in communication were assessed, with logistic regression analyzing associations.

Main Results:

• 107 PCPs responded, with high importance placed on orthopaedist communication when information was needed from the PCP (preferred method: Epic Staff Message).
• Recommendations for surgery, hospitalization, or major clinical changes were also highly rated, with a preference for Epic Chart rather than Staff Message.
• Increased after-hours EMR use correlated with lower interest in communication (OR 0.65, p=0.005); 43% of PCPs reported burnout symptoms.

Conclusions:

• PCPs exhibit distinct preferences for clinical communication from orthopaedic surgeons.
• Significant PCP burnout and extensive after-hours EMR work were observed.
• Findings can inform strategies to enhance PCP-orthopaedist communication and reduce EMR workload.