Johnston Maximilian J, King Dominic, Arora Sonal, Behar Nebil, Athanasiou Thanos, Sevdalis Nick, Darzi Ara
Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality, Department of Surgery and Cancer, St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Centre for Health Policy, Department of Surgery and Cancer, St Mary's Hospital, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Am J Surg. 2015 Jan;209(1):45-51. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2014.08.030. Epub 2014 Oct 22.
Outdated communication technologies in healthcare can place patient safety at risk. This study aimed to evaluate implementation of the WhatsApp messaging service within emergency surgical teams.
A prospective mixed-methods study was conducted in a London hospital. All emergency surgery team members (n = 40) used WhatsApp for communication for 19 weeks. The initiator and receiver of communication were compared for response times and communication types. Safety events were reported using direct quotations.
More than 1,100 hours of communication pertaining to 636 patients were recorded, generating 1,495 communication events. The attending initiated the most instruction-giving communication, whereas interns asked the most clinical questions (P < .001). The resident was the speediest responder to communication compared to the intern and attending (P < .001). The participants felt that WhatsApp helped flatten the hierarchy within the team.
WhatsApp represents a safe, efficient communication technology. This study lays the foundations for quality improvement innovations delivered over smartphones.
医疗保健领域过时的通信技术可能会危及患者安全。本研究旨在评估WhatsApp消息服务在急诊手术团队中的应用情况。
在伦敦一家医院进行了一项前瞻性混合方法研究。所有急诊手术团队成员（n = 40）使用WhatsApp进行了19周的通信。比较了通信发起者和接收者的响应时间和通信类型。使用直接引语报告安全事件。
记录了与636名患者相关的超过1100小时的通信，产生了1495次通信事件。主治医生发起的指令性通信最多，而实习生提出的临床问题最多（P <.001）。与实习生和主治医生相比，住院医生是通信响应最快的（P <.001）。参与者认为WhatsApp有助于消除团队内部的等级制度。
WhatsApp是一种安全、高效的通信技术。本研究为通过智能手机进行质量改进创新奠定了基础。
