Vendors and providers must collaborate on improvements, according to researchers.
Electronic health records (EHRs) have contributed to physicians’ increased reports of burnout and reduction in autonomy. Most studies examining the effects of these systems have focused on the introduction of EHRs to physician practices as a whole, but a recent study in JAMA Open Network Health Informatics focused on an often-overlooked aspect of EHR systems: the messaging inbox.
The researchers compiled a list of 28 recommendations for healthcare organizations, EHR vendors, and researchers to reduce the growing onslaught of EHR messages for physicians.
Below are the recommendations which are organized into five categories: messaging complexities, inbox interface, cognitive load, team communication, and message content.
Reduce message processing complexity
Ensure EHR-based workflows and clinical workflows match
Reduce the number of clicks required to accomplish an action
Provide contextual information (eg trends) within inbox for easier accessibility
Present related results together in a manner familiar to physicians
Ensure full message contents are contained within the subject line
Improve inbox interface design
Highlight abnormalities or other deviations from normal
Quickly trend test results over time
Hide irrelevant, distracting, or duplicate interface elements
Allow periodical display customization
Ensure interface elements are simplified, free of technical jargon
Allow message prioritization
Deliver messages to a single inbox or ensure clear and practical rules for delivery to multiple inboxes
Provide functions to reduce cognitive load
Allow customizable reminders / to-do lists
Provide ability to prioritize messages and sort accordingly
Allow comments and tags on messages
Allow flagging, sorting, and filtering of messages to enable prioritization and triaging
Further distinguish new messages from previously read messages
Facilitate team communication
Require explicit action to remove messages
Allow read-receipts for closed-loop communication
Provide out-of-office functionality
Allow manual forwarding of inbox messages
Automatically send message copies to physicians whose patients are under the care of another physician or specialist
Incorporate staff into the message triaging process
Allow tasks to be distributed among clinical team members
Curate message content
Reduce transmissions of messages that do not affect care
Instruct staff to only transmit messages to appropriate clinicians when the message includes care that the clinician provides
