%0 Journal Article
%T Video conferencing versus telephone calls for team work across hospitals: a qualitative study on simulated emergencies
%A Stein R Bolle
%A Frank Larsen
%A Oddvar Hagen
%A Mads Gilbert
%J BMC Emergency Medicine
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-227x-9-22
%X We adapted a video conferencing (VC) system to the work process between multidisciplinary teams responsible for trauma as well as medical emergencies between one rural and one regional (university) hospital. We studied how the teams cooperated during simulated critical scenarios, and compared VC with standard telephone communication. We used qualitative observations and interviews to evaluate results.The team members found VC to be a useful tool during emergencies and for building "virtual emergency teams" across distant hospitals. Visual communication combined with visual patient information is superior to information gained during ordinary telephone calls, but VC may also cause interruptions in the local teamwork.VC can improve clinical cooperation and decision processes in virtual teams during critical patient care. Such team interaction requires thoughtful organisation, training, and new rules for communication.Time-critical medical emergencies require rapid recognition of important clinical signs and symptoms in order to diagnose and stabilise vital functions while treating the patient. Efforts to improve treatment in these settings transcend individual deeds, and should focus on human factors, actions and interactions in teams [1]. Difficult emergencies may also require teams of specialists not available in rural hospitals. "Virtual teams" can be established during such situations, when team members use interactive communication technology combining picture and sound to stay in touch. Video conferencing (VC) used for medical emergencies may reduce the number of patients transferred to trauma centers [2-4] and offer a quality of clinical service not previously available [5-7]. This may reduce discrepancies between urban and rural trauma care [8].Virtual teams may add complexity [9], disturb work flow and provoke lack of confidence in medical emergencies, hampering patients treatment. Thus understanding of human and organisational problems related to communicati
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-227X/9/22