Characterization of Secure Message Use in a Children's Hospital

Area of Science:

• Clinical Informatics
• Healthcare Communication
• Pediatric Hospital Medicine

Background:

• Secure messaging is prevalent among hospital clinicians but understudied in pediatric settings.
• Understanding communication patterns is crucial for optimizing workflows in children's hospitals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify secure message volume, response times, and emoji use in a pediatric hospital.
• To identify differences in secure messaging metrics across clinical roles and units.

Main Methods:

• A 6-month retrospective analysis of secure message data from 3 inpatient units at a tertiary care children's hospital.
• Secure message activity was isolated to clinical shifts and analyzed by unit and clinician role.
• Statistical analyses were performed to compare message volume, read/response times, and emoji reactions.

Main Results:

• 2,848,677 secure messages were exchanged by 2,493 clinicians.
• Physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) on front-line care had the highest message volume (median 13.4 messages/hour).
• Significant differences in message volume and response times were observed across clinical roles and units (P<0.001).

Conclusions:

• Front-line physicians and APPs face the greatest secure messaging workload.
• Secure messaging systems demonstrated near-instantaneous read and response times.
• Further research is required to assess the impact of secure messaging on clinician well-being and patient safety.