An exploration of electronic medical record progress notes and patient focussed inter-professional communication between inpatient dietitians and other health professionals

The advancement of technology in healthcare is inevitable, although it is important to recognise any impacts these changes may be having on interprofessional communications. At Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH), Electronic Medical Record (eMR) progress notes were introduced at the beginning of 2017 to replace hand written progress notes. The aim is to explore the nature of impact eMR progress notes may have had on inter‐professional communication between hospital ward dietitians and other health professionals surrounding patient care. Mixed methods sequential explanatory design was used and included only inpatient dietitians at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Nutrition and Dietetics Department. Firstly, a self‐reported time‐motion study was done for two full days 1‐week pre and three months post introduction of eMR progress notes. Nine semi‐structured interviews were conducted 6 months post the introduction of eMR progress notes. Interviews were recorded and transcribed then analysed using inductive thematic approach. Findings showed that dietitians spend their indirect patient related time mostly on inter‐professional communication and documentation. Perceived benefits were better flexibility, efficiency and accessibility to patient information. Most dietitians identified that they were spending less time on their designated ward, and more time in their office resulting in less physical contact with the rest of the care team and less incidental patient related conversations. RPAH inpatient dietitians were overall very positive about the changes to electronic progress notes but have identified that the time spent with medical staff has reduced. This is an important consideration to be aware of for service development.