Recent technology has allowed healthcare teams to remain connected like never before. That may be a problem!
It’s 3:00am and in the middle of the night, you hear vibrations and beeps that you slowly realize are not part of some dream. You fumble through belongings on your nightstand and see that you have messages from a communication platform about an IT issue, an issue with capacity in the Emergency Department, or a water main break outside the facility you work at. What’s more, none of these scenarios may actually impact you. If these scenarios do impact you, you will likely also have text messages, phone calls, and (for those of us still holding on to technologies of the 90s) beeper messages.
Such is the reality of our current moment, where there are numerous channels through which information can travel. The benefit of this system may seem obvious: using multiple conduits for crucial information can spread information quickly and ensure that key stakeholders are notified appropriately of urgent needs. However, the drawbacks can become apparent quickly.
Without clear standards around which channels are required for specific pieces of information, multiple people can be notified several times through different channels. The same questions can also be asked of different people, in different modes of communication. While this isn’t necessarily a new problem, it is one that has been accelerated by new messaging platforms like Everbridge, TigerConnect, ModMed, Haiilo, and PerfectServe. These platforms offer an edge over standard text messaging: they are HIPAA-compliant. However, for non-HIPAA information, they may not necessarily replace previous channels like text messaging or phone calls.
Beyond redundancy, there is a larger issue at play. In a 2024 release of employee engagement survey data, PressGaney reported that nurses, despite moderately high resilience, struggle with decompression and have difficulty disconnecting from work.1 Other studies have consistently demonstrated that more than half of US physicians have at least one symptom of burnout.2,3 While it may be inevitable for urgent work priorities to find their way back to healthcare workers during off hours, it is worth asking how much is truly unavoidable.
In healthcare, communication is a quality issue. One strategy may be to have guidelines or policies that direct communication across organizations. Another strategy may be to restrict certain apps to specific staff and providers to prevent a “muddying of waters.” Some of this work is already happening with apps like Vocera which is used primarily in operating rooms and perioperative services. However, the waterfall of messages and notifications need to be managed in order to prevent burnout and the newest iteration of alarm fatigue.
How are your teams or facilities managing this new era of 24/7 connectivity?
- https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/nursing/nurse-resilience-decompression-off-balance-press-ganey/
- Shanafelt TD, Boone S, Tan L, Dyrbye LN, Sotile W, Satele D, et al. Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172:1377–85.
- Halbesleben JRB, Rathert C. Linking physician burnout and patient outcomes: exploring the dyadic relationship between physicians and patients. Health Care Manage Rev. 2008;33:29–39.