To coordinate care at our hospital, a major academic medical center on the east coast, providers use a combination of landlines, one-way pagers, email, an institutionally developed browser-based messaging application, an electronic health record-based messaging system, a voice over internet protocol smartphone dialing application, and several desktop computer-based messaging platforms. Keeping up with this array of technology can be burdensome. We found that members of our anesthesiology department craved a more uniform, simplified, and reliable method of communication.
Initially, we addressed this challenge by exchanging personal cellphone numbers with one another. Although providers found this informal system of direct text messaging and calls on personal cellphones convenient, they lacked a comprehensive and up-to-date list of contact numbers. We describe an initiative to streamline our workplace communication environment by compiling and electronically distributing the personal phone numbers of clinical faculty, residents, and CRNAs who agreed to share their information in the...
