To those NOT on the Epic EHR journey, or those who have NOT been implementing “secure chat” tools in their organization, this may not seem like a big deal.
It is.
The challenge? Secure chat is terrific when you’re the sender, you can reach a LOT of colleagues by texting on your smartphone. HOWEVER, there is such a thing as “TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.” Some of our residents are receiving upwards of 400 secure chat interruptions PER DAY.
How can one even think, much less be effective as a physician / APP / resident caring for patients?
One of the unwanted interruptions is the expression of “Thank you!” when grateful for a rapid and effective response from a colleague. And YES, we do want to increase our mutual expression of gratitude to build trust and a sense of teamwork and human connection.
HOWEVER! This “Thank you” can come when the physician is scrubbed in to a surgical case, and we can’t tell when something is an new message or a “Thank you.”
One tool we have been begging our Epic Wisconsin developers for, is a NON-interruptive EMOJI that allows the reply with a THUMBS UP or SMILE or SURPRISE or CRY or HEART, that is NOT interruptive but shows up the next time that person checks their phone.
As a result? WIN-WIN! We give gratitude, feel a sense of connection AND the recipient does NOT receive another interruption, but can digest that reply at their leisure.
WELL, your wait is over, UCHealth colleagues, we have installed this Epic version update and now: HOVER OVER (on computer) or TAP AND HOLD (on phone) the message and you too, can send non-interruptive THANK YOU emoji’s.
Now, I’m going to go send our Epic Wisconsin colleagues an nice THUMBS UP.
