Communication and navigation...
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Directory information is vital for navigating healthcare services but is often inadequate. It provides contact details of local services, specialists' preferences, and how to access tests and referrals. However, directory information is difficult to maintain as it is locally specific and changes frequently. While new technologies may help, current solutions are fragmented without a consistent format or centralized responsibility. Improving the collection and use of accurate, up-to-date directory information could support clinicians and reduce patient frustrations when navigating the healthcare system.
Communication and navigation...
- 1. Clinical review ABC of health informatics Communication and navigation around the healthcare system Jeremy C Wyatt, Frank Sullivan However good a doctor’s clinical skills, record keeping abilities, This is the 11th in a series of 12 articles and mastery of evidence, before they can start work they need A glossary of terms is available at directory information. This is the information patients and http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/ professionals use to find their way around the healthcare 331/7516/566/DC1 system. Different grades of staff have different demands for this information, and all staff are often interrupted by colleagues’ requests for this information. You are a general practice locum and need to fix an outpatient assessment for Mrs Smith’s bronchitis. The receptionist mentions that before you organise the assessment you need to book certain tests that vary according to which chest physician you refer Mrs Smith to. The receptionist does not know the names of local chest physicians nor their investigation preferences. You spend 15 minutes trying to call the chest clinic in the nearest hospital before discovering it moved six weeks ago to another site 15 miles (24 km) away. Your phone is not cleared for long distance calls, and the practice manager is not around, so you wait to use a colleague’s phone. Mrs Smith takes umbrage at the delay and walks out while shouting across the waiting room, “Call yourself a doctor. You don’t even know what goes on in the hospitals round here.” A hospital switchboard in 1995—shows the operators’ directory and temporary notes. With permission from Martin Loach Directory information Directory information includes information about local services, how to book them, contact details, and specialists’ preferences for tests that they need patients to have had done Directory information used to support primary care tasks before they see them. Variations in stationery, laboratory and therapeutic services, and how those services are organised Primary care task Directory information Source (including what type of bottle specimens should go in) mean Routine surgical List of surgeons with Colleagues, human that most expert clinicians cannot work properly when they are referral interests and waiting resources times at local hospitals department at moved from their base 100 km in any direction. local acute trust, Initiatives from the national programme for information trust website, technology (NPfIT), such as “Choose and book” with its Dr Foster electronic directories of specialists and their preferences for Urgent psychiatric Telephone number of Hospital and Health which tests should be done before a patient is referred, should referral local mental health trust, Services Yearbook, provide a few types of directory information. person on duty and their local mental health mobile number trust Therapy referral List of therapists by Local primary care location, days they work, trust Communication and their contact details Directory information has always been needed. In the past, Test ordering Type of specimen, tube Local laboratory needed, suggested handbook doctors could rely on informal networks built up over years, and indications there were fewer subspecialists to swell clinical teams. Now, Test interpretation Reference range, who to Local laboratory health systems change more often, members of staff are more call for advice handbook mobile, and the scope of health has widened so that doctors Advice to patients For example, details of Primary care trust, regularly communicate with local authorities, expert patients, local diabetes self help Diabetes UK carers, a variety of hospitals, and voluntary agencies. Also, the group, or details of an website, number of staff in each health centre has increased. Asperger’s self help Contact-a-Family Although new technologies may reduce the need for group website doctors to memorise information, they raise new problems—for Inquiry about new List of local primary care Primary care trust general practice priorities headquarters example, access to a directory is needed to check qualifications contract of remote telecarers and identify them reliably so that doctors Writing job Salary scales BMA regional can hand over responsibilities and information to them. description for adviser Little is known about the patterns of communication within practice manager and beyond clinical teams, although interesting results have BMJ VOLUME 331 3 DECEMBER 2005 bmj.com 1325
- 2. Clinical review emerged from a small study of hospital communication and a Communication channels used in healthcare study of emails sent between primary care centres and trusts. The best evidence for taking a proactive approach to managing Channel Sender and Type and Comment communication comes from the field of mental health. receiver longevity of Studies of case workers show the benefit of a formal needed at record approach to exchanging information when dealing with a same time complex chronic disease that has a relapsing and remitting time Face to face Yes Usually none, but Can make notes course. To understand what happens during communication conversation can be partial or later, tape record full whole encounter between different parts of a health system, reflect on the main Telephone Yes Usually none, but Can make notes elements of any communication. It requires at least two parties conversation can be partial or during or after, or (sender and receiver) who share some similar understanding of full record in full for the world (common ground). Communication also needs a permanent record message, which may be short and simple, or complex (such as a (for example, drug formulary), and a channel over which the message can NHSDirect) travel. Communication channels can vary in important ways. Voicemail No None or Can delete or save temporary for 28 days Some channels require the simultaneous attention of both Text No None or Can archive text parties (for example, face to face conversations), other channels messages temporary, or can messages automatically provide a permanent record of the message (for be full permanently example, faxes or emails). In any communication, the person Email No Permanent Can forward to whom the message is for, and the nature of the message must others and attach be established. In some situations, such as the scenario in the pictures box on page 1325, assembling and using reliable directory Instant Nearly, reply Permanent Can save chat to information is difficult. messaging needed disk within a minute Ward round Yes Partial Record findings Collecting and using directory and decisions in case notes information Meeting Yes (even if Partial Minutes of done by meeting Collecting and using such information can be difficult for telephone or several reasons. Clinicians rely heavily on printed lists and video) handbooks. This hard copy often needs to be corrected or Telemedicine No Permanent Similar to email annotated, and then photocopied because some staff cannot using store and forward access the original electronic copy. Another reason for there Telemedicine Yes Usually none, but Like a ward being problems with collecting and using directory information using video can be partial or round. Record is that clinicians often rely on their fallible memories. link full results and Fragmentation of information sources can also cause decisions in case difficulties. Sometimes work related contact numbers are stored notes, or video in diaries or mobile phones, and either could be lost or stolen. record the session Also, if stored in a phone or diary, this information is not Interactive Yes No Slow with poor automatically available to others in the healthcare team or digital functionality, but television will improve beyond. Exchange of No Yes Older NHS HealthSpace (www.healthspace.nhs.uk) allows patients letters or fax technologies that to record these data. Patients can store their own information in have a continuing the section called “Health Tracker,” and will have access to their role electronic health records. External agencies often manage directory information better than the NHS. For example, Binley’s directory provides information from contact details for NHS trusts, departments, and health centres, to pharmacy opening times. Private healthcare organisations also manage information better than the NHS because they realise that there is a business need and that benefits will accrue if their clients have easy access to information on how to use their services. Assembling, maintaining, and accessing directory information One of the reasons that any clinician could face a situation like the one described in the scenario is because the people and organisations in healthcare services change fast. In the future NHS HealthSpace website allows patients to store information and will allow they will change even faster, making directory information them to private access to their personal electronic health records more important, but more difficult to assemble. 1326 BMJ VOLUME 331 3 DECEMBER 2005 bmj.com
- 3. Clinical review Summary Collecting and using directory information Directory information is vital for people to navigate healthcare Problem Solution services and to allow clinicians to do their work, but in many Source of directory information is Identify key data and most healthcare organisations directory information is under-rated, often obscure accurate source or even non-existent. It is nobody’s job to maintain the Include directory information in Directory information changes quickly, and originates source information governance role locally. It also needs to be accurate, up to date, and available Too many sources, no coherent Map and reduce the number of map sources nationally to support greater use of eHealth. Some of the No single format for directory Develop a national standard data information can be distilled from local sources of data, and one information format for all relevant kinds of approach might be to expect it to be everyone’s business to directory information ensure that these sources are kept up to date—just as clinicians Cannot rely on peers or Use electronic media maintain a patient’s record. traditional networks in view of Unfortunately, this idea leads to a “collusion of anonymity” shorter working week, rapid staff where “everyone agreed that someone should do it, but no one changes did.” A solution might be to have a designated person for each Directory information changes Someone must keep it up to date organisation—for example, a laboratory or primary care fast—for example, contacts, on a central site; discourage print centre—whose job it is to maintain this information. laboratory tests, opening hours of outs pharmacy Maintaining directory information can be seen as Maintaining accurate, up to date Reward those who succeed by “organisational governance.” It is an intrinsic part of being a contact information takes a lot of including it in their job team member and central to being a responsible employee. work description It seems ironic that when accurate, comprehensive, up to Most directories are designed for Ensure national standard format, date contact information is needed by NHS organisations, they local users in a local context, but context seen as national not local pay for directories and databases published by external data increasingly needed at organisations—for example, Binleys directory, NHS national level Confederation, and Medical Directory. Perhaps the NHS should Local NHS regularly reorganised Include directory information outsource this activity and set up central service level management as a function in agreements with these organisations for less money than NHS every new organisation; anticipate and manage risks of disruption Trusts currently spend on paper directories. Pressure from an Plurality of NHS service Encourage all service providers to external contracted organisation might persuade organisations provision—private sector, use and contribute to NHS that are funded by the state to provide the necessary data in a overseas, other providers directory information timely way, which has often defeated internal efforts to capture Disruption to work caused by use Encourage use of asynchronous these data in the past. In future, pre-referral investigation of synchronous communication channels instead by providing protocols for each consultant might be readily available and channels email or voicemail details potential Mrs Smiths need not be so disappointed. Loss of key directory information Use permanent channels caused by use of transient channels, such as mobile phones, Post It notes Further reading Print outs of electronic copy get Do not print out x Coiera EW, Jayasuriya RA, Hardy J, Bannan A, Thorpe ME. out of date, and corrections are Communication loads on clinical staff in the emergency rarely propagated department. Med J Aust 2002;176:415-8 Data in diary or handheld Download data, never modify it x Coiera E, Tombs V. Communication behaviours in a hospital computer is hidden from other on handheld computer setting: an observational study. BMJ 1998;316:673-6 team members and can get lost x Ziguras SJ, Stuart GW, Jackson AC. Assessing the evidence on case management. Br J Psychiatry 2002;181:17-21 Variable quality of NHS directory Raise awareness of importance of x Coulter A. When I’m 64: Health choices. Health Expect 2004;7:95-7 information directory information; use it; allow users to improve it; outsource capture and provision of other providers The series will be published as a book by Blackwell Publishing in spring 2006. Jeremy C Wyatt is professor of health informatics, and Frank Sullivan is NHS Tayside professor of research and development in general Competing interests: None declared. practice and primary care, University of Dundee. BMJ 2005;331:1325–7 BMJ VOLUME 331 3 DECEMBER 2005 bmj.com 1327