Nurses send the majority of EHR messages, while medical providers receive more of them than any other hospital workers, a study in JAMA Network Open found.
The researchers analyzed 15.1 million messages sent from January 2021 to January 2022, and found that 69.1% were sent between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and 75.9% were responded to within five minutes. After nurses, medical house staff (13.5%) and social workers, care managers and allied health professionals (12.6%) send the largest portion of messages.
Concerns exist that EHR messaging interrupts healthcare providers and contributes to clinician burnout, and the study's authors recommend that Epic's secure chat feature not be used for "urgent and emergent issues."
Here are the providers who send the most EHR messages per day, according to the Dec. 26 study:
1. Medical advanced practice providers: 33
2. Medical house staff: 28
3. Attending medical providers: 20
4. Nurses: 9
Other house staff: 9
Here is who receives the most messages daily:
1. Medical house staff: 62
2. Medical advanced practice providers: 57
3. Attending medical providers: 41
4. Social workers, care managers and allied health professionals: 15
5. Nurses: 14
Other house staff: 14