Distinguishing Urgent From Non-urgent Communications: A Mixed Methods Study of Communication Technology Use in Perinatal Care

Distinguishing urgent from non-urgent communication is critical. We aimed to understand how hospital staff choose what communication technologies to use. A mixed methods study was conducted with four focus groups, with staff working on postpartum care units, and log data from a hands-free communication system was analyzed. We found that urgent communications were appropriate for the hands-free device, with less urgent communications sent through secure chat in the electronic health record. Exceptions included when the intended recipient was in the operating room and during sensitive discussions. The most common duration of calls on the hands-free device was 16–60 seconds, with few more than 5 minutes. The most frequent reason for incomplete calls was the user not logging in (36%), which could be reduced by eliminating logging in and training. We recommend an interruptive communication technology for urgent information and an electronic health record chat for less urgent information that does not require an immediate response. We recommend forwarding and sending calls to a hospital-provided cellphone from the hands-free communication system for provider roles that do not align with the intended workflow for hands-free communications.