Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Dec;41(4):418-428.
doi: 10.1111/hir.12535. Epub 2024 May 28.

Information-seeking behaviour of primary care clinicians in Singapore at the point-of-care: A qualitative study

Mauricette Moling Lee  1   2 , Wern Ee Tang  3 , Helen Elizabeth Smith  1 , Lorainne Tudor Car  1   4
Affiliations

Information-seeking behaviour of primary care clinicians in Singapore at the point-of-care: A qualitative study

Mauricette Moling Lee et al. Health Info Libr J. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Clinicians' information-seeking behaviours impact patient care quality. Earlier studies indicated that barriers to accessing information deter clinicians from seeking answers to clinical questions.

Objectives: To explore primary care clinicians' information-seeking behaviour at point-of-care, focusing on when and how they seek answers to clinical questions.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 clinicians after clinical sessions to investigate their information-seeking habits. Follow-up interviews were conducted after a week for those intending to address unanswered queries.

Results: Two thirds of clinicians encountered questions during care, with nearly three quarters resolving them during the session. Colleagues, guidelines and online platforms were common information sources, with smartphones being used to access Google, WhatsApp or UpToDate®. Facilitators included reliable sources and the drive to confirm knowledge, while barriers included ineffective search methods and high workload. Despite challenges, most clinicians expressed satisfaction with their information-seeking process.

Discussion: The findings underscore the increasing use of smartphones for accessing clinical information among Singaporean primary care clinicians and suggest the need for tailored training programmes and guidelines to optimise information-seeking practices.

Conclusion: Insights from this study can inform the development of training programmes and guidelines aimed at improving information-seeking practices among primary care clinicians, potentially enhancing patient care quality.

Keywords: Asia, south east; Mobile health (M‐Health); clinical guidelines; clinical questions; digital information resources; evidence‐based medicine; evidence‐based nursing; information literacy; internet access; primary care.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared that they have no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow diagram on the conduct of the interviews. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Number of answered and unanswered clinical questions by the clinicians. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Themes and subthemes arising from the interviews. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aakre, C. A. , Maggio, L. A. , Fiol, G. D. , & Cook, D. A. (2019). Barriers and facilitators to clinical information seeking: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 26(10), 1129–1140. 10.1093/jamia/ocz065 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ayatollahi, H. , Bath, P. A. , & Goodacre, S. (2013). Information needs of clinicians and non‐clinicians in the emergency department: A qualitative study. Health Information and Libraries Journal, 30(3), 191–200. 10.1111/hir.12019 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Brassil, E. , Gunn, B. , Shenoy, A. M. , & Blanchard, R. (2017). Unanswered clinical questions: A survey of specialists and primary care providers. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 105(1), 4–11. 10.5195/jmla.2017.101 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Braun, L. , Wiesman, F. , den Herik Van, H. , & Hasman, A. (2006). Avoiding literature overload in the medical domain. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 124, 497–502. - PubMed
    1. Bruin‐Huisman, L. , Abu‐Hanna, A. , van Weert, H. , & Beers, E. (2017). Potentially inappropriate prescribing to older patients in primary care in The Netherlands: A retrospective longitudinal study. Age and Ageing, 46(4), 614–619. 10.1093/ageing/afw243 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources