Virtual White Boards for Patient Satisfaction

Communication with patients on their clinical status is important in delivering care in the emergency department. During times of high volume or complex patients, there may be lapses in communicating with patients about their hospital course or plans of action. These miscommunications may be enhanced during the current COVID-19 pandemic as there is minimized in-person interaction with patients in order to conserve personal protective equipment and decrease the risk of disease transmission. This study utilizes a virtual white board to deliver updates to patients about the status of their emergency department stay.

The ultimate goal of this study is to understand the effect of delivering timely information about a patient's emergency department course of their satisfaction surrounding the emergency department stay. The experience of patients in the emergency department has been significantly altered by the COVID-19 pandemic due to decreased in-person encounters, and the use of PPE. Delivering information about their clinical course and expected hospital course is more difficult now given the emphasis on less in-person interaction. In response, the investigators have deployed in collaboration with e-ink, a virtual e-paper white board that can be remotely edited to help display pertinent hospital course information to patients in the emergency department. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial to understand the effect of deploying these white boards on patient satisfaction in the emergency department.

Individuals triaged to a pod in the emergency department without rooms that are fitted with a virtual display screen

Individuals triaged to a pod in the emergency department in a room that is fitted with a virtual display screen

A virtual display screen developed by e-ink that displays patient status, basic demographics, care team information, pending tests and anticipated disposition

Treatment as usual in the emergency department with communication of testing results, imaging and disposition by the primary clinical emergency department team.

Satisfaction of overall emergency department stay measured by a 1-5 likert scale, hospital developed question on satisfaction (how satisfied were you with your emergency department stay today?)- higher score is better

Quality of information conveyed to participant (rated on 5 point likert scale on questions about quality of waiting time for test results, staff concern, perceived teamwork in the hospital)

Question on preference for virtual white board compared to a standard emergency department room without a white board (1-4 likert scale, with 4 being strongly prefer white board room)

Inclusion Criteria: Patients in emergency department at Brigham and Women's Hospital Triaged to designated emergency department pods outfitted with virtual white board Expected emergency department stay of at least four hours Able to speak and read english Not primary psychiatric complaint Exclusion Criteria: Medically ill or otherwise deemed unable to participate by the study PI and/or treating clinical team. Patients admitted to an inpatient bed but boarding in the emergency department over 10 hours. Previously participated in the study. Has COVID-19 risk flag or confirmed COVID-19 in electronic health record