SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Work From Home Triagist: Expanding Remote Work Opportunities for Hospitalists

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This study evaluated whether a hospitalist triage night shift could be moved from in-house to remote work. The triagist role manages admissions, transfers, patient distribution, and care transitions, and the authors aimed to see if remote telemedicine could support this non-traditional hospitalist function while improving work-life balance.<br /><br />A 12-hour hospitalist night triage shift was redesigned so the triagist worked remotely using a virtual private network, secure electronic admission logs, text paging, and telephone communication with the admitting night providers. After the change, hospitalists who worked triage or admitting shifts completed a survey comparing in-house versus remote triage. Responses included multiple-choice and 5-point Likert scale items, plus free-text comments that were analyzed thematically.<br /><br />Fifty-seven hospitalists were surveyed and 27 responded (47.4%); 16 had experience working triage shifts. Among triagists, 56% preferred working remotely. Most felt the workload was more manageable in the remote model: 81% agreed that overall and cross-coverage workload improved, and 87.5% reported never or rarely encountering technological or environmental problems. However, qualitative feedback raised concerns that remote cross-coverage could delay care, create communication problems, and reduce patient safety.<br /><br />Among night admitting physicians, 40% said they performed more consults, 44% disagreed that cross-coverage was busier, and 18.5% reported safety concerns. Overall, the findings suggest that a remote triage role is feasible and often preferred by triagists, particularly because it improves work-life balance. At the same time, the study highlights the need to reconsider how cross-coverage is handled to ensure safe patient care.

Asset Subtitle

Khanh T. Nguyen

Meta Tag

Author List Khanh T. Nguyen, Meggan Forbes

Category Innovations

Concept Triage

Concept Patient Safety

Concept Hospitalist

Concept Off-site Work

Concept Feasibility

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization University of Chicago

Presenting Author Khanh T. Nguyen

Track Technology in Hospital Medicine

Keywords

hospitalist triage

remote work

telemedicine

night shift

patient admissions

cross-coverage

work-life balance

patient safety

virtual private network

care transitions

Triage

Patient Safety

Hospitalist

Off-site Work

Feasibility