Table 3.
Characteristics of Interruptions
| Characteristic | n (%) |
| Who was interrupted | |
| Intern | 136 (36) |
| Resident | 107 (28) |
| Attending | 46 (12) |
| Team | 89 (24) |
| Topic of interruption | |
| Consult | 81 (21) |
| Discharge planning | 66 (18) |
| Clarification/request for an order | 64 (17) |
| Personal | 46 (12) |
| Change in patient status | 44 (12) |
| New admission | 19 (5) |
| Administrative | 13 (3) |
| Misdirected | 7 (2) |
| Abnormal test result | 6 (2) |
| Other | 32 (9) |
| Method of interruption | |
| Text message | 92 (24) |
| Face-to-face | 85 (23) |
| Pager | 83 (22) |
| Vocera | 41 (11) |
| Phone call | 36 (10) |
| Instant message | 24 (6) |
| Overhead | 14 (4) |
| Other | 3 (1) |
| Length of interruption | |
| < 1 minute | 271 (72) |
| 1–5 minutes | 82 (22) |
| > 5 minutes | 25 (7) |
| Activity being interrupted | |
| Presenting/discussing patient | 287 (76) |
| At bedside | 61 (16) |
| Teaching | 6 (2) |
| In EHR, entering orders | 5 (1) |
| In EHR, not entering orders | 5 (1) |
| Other | 14 (4) |
| Location when interrupted | |
| Table rounding | 200 (53) |
| Walk rounding | 178 (47) |
Abbreviation: EHR, electronic health record.
Note: N = 378 total interruptions (over 30 attending rounds observations). Overhead calls included announcements for codes and rapid response teams. Emergent included calling a code or rapid response team and urgent included critical lab results. Text messages were received on physician personal phones. Vocera is a closed-loop hands-free wearable communication device. Instant message was done via Skype on desktop computer. Presenting/discussing patient included walking between patient rooms. Teaching included only didactics separate from discussion of patient.