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Paging Frequency for Internal Medicine Residents in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Observational Mixed
Crystal Liu1, Matthew Cooper2, Steven J Katz3,4
1Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development
|June 12, 2026
Summary
On-call internal medicine residents receive numerous pages, many non-urgent, frequently interrupting patient care. Exploring alternative communication strategies is crucial for improving physician well-being and patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Medical communication
- Healthcare operations
- Physician workload
Background:
- Hospital paging systems are prevalent but cause frequent interruptions.
- These interruptions can negatively affect patient care quality and physician well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the volume and urgency of pages received by internal medicine residents during call shifts.
- To assess the impact of pages on patient care and identify communication improvement areas.
Main Methods:
- Internal medicine residents at a Canadian tertiary care center tracked pages during call shifts.
- Data collected included page timing, content, urgency, and importance.
- Quantitative data were analyzed from centralized paging records (February 2021-February 2023).
Main Results:
- Residents averaged 13.8 pages per shift.
- 58.1% of pages were urgent, 38.2% non-urgent.
- Nurses initiated 75.5% of pages, which interrupted patient care 52.6% of the time.
Conclusions:
- On-call residents face high page volumes, often from nurses, with many non-urgent pages.
- Pages frequently disrupt patient care, indicating a need for better communication protocols.
- Investigating alternative communication methods is recommended to enhance patient care and physician well-being.
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