User Needs and Challenges in Information Sharing between Pre-Hospital and Hospital Emergency Care Providers

Abstract

Effective communication between pre-hospital and hospital providers is a critical first step towards ensuring efficient patient care. Despite many efforts in improving the communication process, inefficiencies persist. It is critical to understand user needs, work practices, and existing barriers to inform technology design for supporting pre-hospital communication. However, existing research examining the ways in which patient information is collected and shared by pre-hospital providers in the field has been limited. We conducted a series of ethnographic studies with both prehospital and hospital care providers to examine 1) the types of information that are commonly collected and shared by the pre-hospital providers in the field; 2) the types of pre-hospital information that are needed by hospital-based teams for ensuring appropriate preparation; and 3) the challenges in the pre-hospital communication process. We conclude by discussing technology opportunities for facilitating real-time information sharing in the field.

Figure 1.

A typical pre-hospital communication process.

Figure 2.

Comparison of pre-hospital information needs across ECIC, ED, and trauma teams. The X-axis represents different high-level categories of pre-hospital information, and the y-axis indicates the percentage of medical professionals within each team who expressed the needs for specific information.