eP696 - Your Doctor Has Entered the Chat: Workplace Connectivity and Secure Chat Pressures

ePoster Presenter(s)

• BL

  Brittany Levy, MD MPH

  Resident
  University of Kentucky
  Lexington, Kentucky, United States

  All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Author(s)

• EM

  Erin McAtee, DO

  Resident
  University of Kentucky
  Lexnigton, Kentucky, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• WS

  Wesley Stephens Stephens, MD

  Resident
  University of Kentucky
  Lexington, Kentucky, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• HM

  Hannah McDonald, MD

  Resident
  University of Kentucky
  Lexington, Kentucky, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.
• AB

  Avinash S. Bhakta, MD

  Assistant Professor
  University of Kentucky
  Lexnigton, Kentucky, United States

  Disclosure information not submitted.

Senior Author(s)

• 

  Jitesh A. Patel, MD, MBA

  Professor of Surgery
  University of Kentucky
  University of Kentucky
  Lexington, KY, United States

  All relevant financial disclosures have been managed and will be listed below.
  This individual has no financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Purpose/Background: Workplace secure messaging systems have become integrated into the electronic medical record, making physicians and healthcare providers readily accessible and available during and after work hours. Recent studies related to medical burn out have associated smartphone usage and workplace telepressures as contributing factors. This study aimed to identify trends in workplace connectivity over time.Methods/Interventions: Electronic medical record usage data was queried at a single institution for the colorectal surgery service, which is staffed by attending board certified colorectal surgeons and a colorectal surgery fellow, in addition to a fifth year, second year, and first year surgery resident. Data regarding secure messaging usage, for physicians logged into the colorectal surgery care context was collated. Data, reported as messages per patient per day was collected over a 5-month period (6/2023-10/2023) and trends were reported. Trends for faculty and fellow messages were trended over a 9 month period, and rates of messages per patient per day were reported. Trend lines were plotted and slopes identified.Results/Outcomes: Overall trends revealed an increasing rate of secure messaging utilization overtime. At the start of the study period secure chatting resulted in an average of 4.6 messages per patient, and over 5 months the average increased to a rate of 8.7 messages per patient per day. This resulted in an positive increase of 3% each week over the study period. When assessing faculty and fellow trends, the rate of messages per day did not largely change over the study period.Conclusion/

Discussion: Telepressure related to secure chatting mechanisms are increasing in prevalence and effect hospital provider workflows. While all providers are subject to secure messaging telepressure, resident team members are disproportionately affected, compared to faculty and fellows.Messages Per Patient Per Day For Colorectal Surgery