When Teams Come Together, Good Things Happen

Using secure chat instead of phone calls or a voice-controlled, wearable communication device to notify nurses about non-urgent lab results
Welcoming Emergency Department staff to the lab to meet colleagues, see processes and explain testing systems to help foster relationships and a better understanding of the work

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Emergency Department nurses work at a fast pace and need to stay focused. Constant interruptions can affect patient care. Nurses at the Sunnyside Medical Center in the Northwest realized they were getting interrupted frequently by the lab with test result notifications. Nurses worked with the lab staff to address this issue. Through a series of tests of change, they streamlined notifications for non-urgent test results. The result: fewer interruptions, saving 5 hours per month.

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TTP Blurb

Laboratory and emergency departments teamed up to decrease work interruptions caused by non-urgent test result notifications.

Why This Matters

Workplace interruptions can add stress, increase patient errors and cause patients to feel like they’re not receiving good care.

Test of Change

Lab staff tested the secure chat messaging in Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health record system to notify Emergency Department nurses about non-urgent lab results instead of using their hands-free, voice-controlled wearable communication devices.

Short Teaser

Notification improvements save time for nurses.

Medium Teaser

Emergency Department nurses and lab staff identify a new process to notify nurses about patient lab results.

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Team-Tested Practices

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