From the AHAP Blog: Texting while rounding?

One of AHAP’s sister blogs, the Patient Safety Monitor Blog, has a fantastic post by writer Tami Swartz we wanted to share:

Everyone knows that texting while driving is dangerous—and illegal in many states. It’s obvious why: The driver gets distracted and takes his or her eyes–and mind–off the road.

But what about frontline care staff? Can they text on the floor? If so, when? Does your hospital have guidelines about this? Many hospitals are worried about the content of texts and other uses of social media, such as Facebook. They worry HIPAA will be violated. But a recent incident exposed on the AHRQ’s “morbidity and mortality rounds on the web” proves that texting while rounding, no matter what the content, can prove distracting and near disastrous, especially when smartphones serve as both a hospital tool for ordering medication and the portal to a resident’s social life.

The case involves a resident and intern who discussed the plan of care for a patient while rounding. An attending told the resident to stop warfarin until an echocardiogram of the heart could be taken.

Here’s a key part to this case: The hospital’s CPOE system allows providers to enter orders in the system through smartphones, a convenient option that allows real-time ordering.

Click here to read more on the AHAP blog.