RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Clinicians' information-seeking behaviours impact patient care quality. Earlier studies indicated that barriers to accessing information deter clinicians from seeking answers to clinical questions. OBJECTIVES: To explore primary care clinicians' information-seeking behaviour at point-of-care, focusing on when and how they seek answers to clinical questions. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 clinicians after clinical sessions to investigate their information-seeking habits. Follow-up interviews were conducted after a week for those intending to address unanswered queries. RESULTS: Two thirds of clinicians encountered questions during care, with nearly three quarters resolving them during the session. Colleagues, guidelines and online platforms were common information sources, with smartphones being used to access Google, WhatsApp or UpToDate®. Facilitators included reliable sources and the drive to confirm knowledge, while barriers included ineffective search methods and high workload. Despite challenges, most clinicians expressed satisfaction with their information-seeking process. DISCUSSION: The findings underscore the increasing use of smartphones for accessing clinical information among Singaporean primary care clinicians and suggest the need for tailored training programmes and guidelines to optimise information-seeking practices. CONCLUSION: Insights from this study can inform the development of training programmes and guidelines aimed at improving information-seeking practices among primary care clinicians, potentially enhancing patient care quality.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The growth of medical knowledge and patient care complexity calls for improved clinician access to evidence-based resources. This study aimed to explore the primary care clinicians' preferences for, barriers to, and facilitators of information-seeking in clinical practice in Singapore. METHODS: A convenience sample of ten doctors and ten nurses was recruited. We conducted semi-structured face-to-face in-depth interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Of the 20 participants, eight doctors and ten nurses worked at government-funded polyclinics and two doctors worked in private practice. Most clinicians sought clinical information daily at the point-of-care. The most searched-for information by clinicians in practice was less common conditions. Clinicians preferred evidence-based resources such as clinical practice guidelines and UpToDate®. Clinical practice guidelines were mostly used when they were updated or based on memory. Clinicians also commonly sought answers from their peers. Furthermore, clinicians frequently use smartphones to access the Google search engine and UpToDate® app. The barriers to accessing clinical information included the lack of time, internet surfing separation of work computers, limited search functions in the organisation's server, and limited access to medical literature databases. The facilitators of accessing clinical information included convenience, easy access, and trustworthiness of information sources. CONCLUSION: Most primary care clinicians in our study sought clinical information at the point-of-care daily and reported increasing use of smartphones for information-seeking. Future research focusing on interventions to improve access to credible clinical information for primary care clinicians at the point-of-care is recommended. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been reviewed by NHG Domain Specific Review Board (NHG DSRB) (the central ethics committee) for ethics approval. NHG DSRB Reference Number: 2018/01355 (31/07/2019).