Effect of a laboratory result pager on provider behavior in a neonatal intensive care unit.
BACKGROUND
Automated paging systems that inform providers about abnormal laboratory values may alter their behavior.


METHODS
We prospectively studied provider behavior before and after implementation of a laboratory paging system that utilizes a filtering mechanism.


RESULTS
The proportion of laboratory results that were acted upon did not change significantly. However, providers were more likely to order repeat laboratory testing (p = 0.019)


CONCLUSIONS
Provider behavior is altered in the presence of a laboratory paging system.
Samal
Lipika
L
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Stavroudis
Theodora A
TA
Miller
Robert
R
Lehmann
Harold P
HP
Lehmann
Christoph U
CU
D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D006747:Hospital Communication Systems; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods*; D008396:Maryland; D017010:Reminder Systems