Evolving Challenges in Clinical Communication: Balancing Patient Expectations, Safety, and Burnout

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: In the last 10–15 years, clinical communications have undergone major changes. The most impactful of these changes have been patient portals for direct communication with physicians and APPs and EHR-based smartphone messaging platforms. The speed and scale of these transitions have created practice-altering consequences for patient expectations/care quality, safety, and physician/APP burnout. In this panel, we hope to discuss these issues, highlight their impacts on inpatient and outpatient otolaryngology practice, and posit some best practices for communication system transitions. Building on our discussions from last year, we also will highlight and explore the evolving integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools into clinical communication systems.

The first half of the presentation and discussion will focus on outpatient patient portal messaging. These have allowed high volumes of messages to come into physician/APP inboxes at all hours. While patient expectations have certainly shifted in the last few years, demanding faster and more personalized messaging, provider burnout has risen concomitantly. Additionally, many physicians have anecdotally noted how certain red flag messages can be lost in the barrage of non-urgent requests. We hope to discuss with our panelists the rise of this platform, AI messaging technologies in production and on the horizon, expectation setting with patients, and strategies to prevent red-flag problems from being communicated on these platforms.

The second half of the event will take up inpatient communication challenges. EHR systems are introducing hospital chat features that handle minor communication, emergency system activation, and consult orders. We will discuss with our panelists safety issues that arise in communication system transitions as well as unique challenges that are brought up with messaging culture and inpatient messaging burden, particularly for residents and fellows.

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 1: Describe key quality and safety challenges arising from widespread changes in outpatient and inpatient clinical communication.

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 2: Consider ways to decrease provider burnout and improve patient communication using high-volume patient portal systems.

OUTCOME OBJECTIVE 3: Identify potential communication risks in your own inpatient practice environment with transitions in communication systems.

BACKGROUND STATEMENT: This is a quickly evolving issue for our field, both from a safety perspective, given the prevalence of emergency care in our practice, and from a burnout perspective with message volume in outpatient care. A conversation at the Academy about communications is critical over the coming years.

Comprehensive Otolaryngology Track Statement :