Table 2.

Sources of workflow interruption.

Category	Workflow interruption source	Definition
Interruption by patients or their relatives	1. Asking about medical examination results	Patients interrupt physicians to ask about the results of their physical and chemical examinations such as x-ray, blood tests, and urine tests.
	2. Asking for health guidance	Patients interrupt to ask for medical guidance, dietary restrictions, lifestyle behavior changes, and ways to improve their health when at home.
	3. Asking about the waiting time	Patients interrupt while they are queuing outside to ask when they can see a doctor.
	4. Asking about procedures	Patients interrupt to ask about procedures such as inpatient procedures and outpatient treatment procedures.
	5. Medical disputes	Patients interrupt to seek solutions due to dissatisfaction with medical results, service attitudes, outpatient procedures, etc.
	6. Others	Patients interrupt because of other issues.
Interruption by colleagues	7. Work issues	Questions about patient's condition, multi-section consultation, etc.
	8. Private issues	Issues regarding interpersonal relationships
Interruption by phone	9. Phone	An interruption because of the doctor's phone
Interruption by equipment/ system/network failure	10. Equipment/ system/network failure	Doctors are interrupted by hospital systems, network failure, medical equipment, and so on.
Interruption by others	11. Others	Interrupted by other people or other issues