title: Beyond paging: building a web-based communication tool for nurses and physicians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The traditional means of communication between nurses and physicians is through paging. This method is disruptive to the workflow of both professions and is too non-specific to be used for all types of messages.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We undertook a quality improvement project to streamline communication between nurses and trainees for urgent and non-urgent matters. We assessed user uptake and satisfaction with the new method.
  
  
  METHODS
  A General Internal Medicine teaching unit in a tertiary care academic centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  Through collaborative techniques, we developed a novel communication method that sends non-urgent messages to a Web-based task list and urgent messages to an alphanumeric pager. We implemented this new technology using a collaborative process between nurses and physicians to address all concerns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Post-implementation surveillance indicated a high degree of uptake of the new practice. User surveys and focus groups showed a high level of satisfaction and a perceived decrease in interruptions to the workflow of both nurses and physicians with the new system. Usage data indicated that the new system may increase overall non-urgent communication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A Web-based system to triage urgent and non-urgent messages between nurses and physicians was developed collaboratively and implemented successfully to improve workflow for both groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. ken.locke@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Kenneth A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Locke
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duffey-Rosenstein
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Lio
authors.forename: Dante
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morra
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hariton
mesh_terms: D001292:Attitude to Computers; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D020407:Internet / Q000639:trends; D009726:Nurses / Q000639:trends; D010820:Physicians / Q000639:trends