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Information Overload in Emergency Medicine Physicians: A Multisite Case Study Exploring the Causes, Impact, and Solutions in Four North England National Health Service Trusts

Journal of medical Internet research, 2020-07, Vol.22 (7), p.e19126-e19126 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Laura Sbaffi, James Walton, John Blenkinsopp, Graham Walton. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 27.07.2020. ;2020. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. ;Laura Sbaffi, James Walton, John Blenkinsopp, Graham Walton. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 27.07.2020. 2020 ;ISSN: 1438-8871 ;ISSN: 1439-4456 ;EISSN: 1438-8871 ;DOI: 10.2196/19126 ;PMID: 32716313

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  • Title:
    Information Overload in Emergency Medicine Physicians: A Multisite Case Study Exploring the Causes, Impact, and Solutions in Four North England National Health Service Trusts
  • Author: Sbaffi, Laura ; Walton, James ; Blenkinsopp, John ; Walton, Graham
  • Subjects: Adult ; Analytical group psychotherapy ; Causes ; Clinical information ; Communication ; Computer based ; Culture ; Decision making ; Demography ; Electronic Data Processing - methods ; Electronic mail systems ; Emergency medical care ; Emergency Medicine - standards ; Employment ; England ; Evidence-based practice ; Fatigue ; Health services ; Humans ; Information overload ; Internet ; Mass media ; Middle Aged ; Original Paper ; Patients ; Physicians ; Physicians - standards ; Polls & surveys ; Principal components analysis ; Quality of care ; Social media ; Social networks ; Society ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Teams ; Trusts ; Urgency ; Working hours ; Young Adult
  • Is Part Of: Journal of medical Internet research, 2020-07, Vol.22 (7), p.e19126-e19126
  • Description: Information overload is affecting modern society now more than ever because of the wide and increasing distribution of digital technologies. Social media, emails, and online communications among others infuse a sense of urgency as information must be read, produced, and exchanged almost instantaneously. Emergency medicine is a medical specialty that is particularly affected by information overload with consequences on patient care that are difficult to quantify and address. Understanding the current causes of medical information overload, their impact on patient care, and strategies to handle the inflow of constant information is crucial to alleviating stress and anxiety that is already crippling the profession. This study aims to identify and evaluate the main causes and sources of medical information overload, as experienced by emergency medicine physicians in selected National Health Service (NHS) trusts in the United Kingdom. This study used a quantitative, survey-based data collection approach including close- and open-ended questions. A web-based survey was distributed to emergency physicians to assess the impact of medical information overload on their jobs. In total, 101 valid responses were collected from 4 NHS trusts in north England. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, independent sample two-tailed t tests, and one-way between-group analysis of variance with post hoc tests were performed on the data. Open-ended questions were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify key topics. The vast majority of respondents agreed that information overload is a serious issue in emergency medicine, and it increases with time. The always available culture (mean 5.40, SD 1.56), email handling (mean 4.86, SD 1.80), and multidisciplinary communications (mean 4.51, SD 1.61) are the 3 main reasons leading to information overload. Due to this, emergency physicians experience guideline fatigue, stress and tension, longer working hours, and impaired decision making, among other issues. Aspects of information overload are also reported to have different impacts on physicians depending on demographic factors such as age, years spent in emergency medicine, and level of employment. There is a serious concern regarding information overload in emergency medicine. Participants identified a considerable number of daily causes affecting their job, particularly the traditional culture of emergency departments being always available on the ward, exacerbated by email and other forms of communication necessary to maintain optimal, evidence-based practice standards. However, not all information is unwelcome, as physicians also need to stay updated with the latest guidelines on conditions and treatment, and communicate with larger medical teams to provide quality care.
  • Publisher: Canada: Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, Associate Professor
  • Language: English
  • Identifier: ISSN: 1438-8871
    ISSN: 1439-4456
    EISSN: 1438-8871
    DOI: 10.2196/19126
    PMID: 32716313
  • Source: GFMER Free Medical Journals
    MEDLINE
    PubMed Central
    ProQuest Central
    DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
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