The Use of WhatsApp Smartphone Messaging Improves Communication Efficiency within an Orthopaedic Surgery Team

Introduction: Effective and timely communication is important for any surgical specialty to function. The use of smartphones is prevalent amongst doctors. Numerous smartphone applications offer the potential for fast and cost-effective communication. WhatsApp is a commonly used application that is free, easy to use, and capable of text and multimedia messaging. We report on the use of WhatsApp over a six month period in our unit. Materials and Methods: WhatsApp communication between non-consultant members of an orthopaedic team over a six-month period was analysed. Both the phones and the WhatsApp application were password-protected, and patient details were anonymised. A series of 20 communications using the hospital pager system and the telephone system were also analysed. Results: A total of 5,492 messages were sent during the six-month period and were part of 1,916 separate communication events. The vast majority of messages, 5,090, were related to patient care. A total of 195 multimedia messages were sent and these included images of radiographs and wounds. When using the hospital telephones, the length of time spent on a communication averaged 5.78 minutes and using the hospital pager system averaged 7.45 minutes. Using the WhatsApp messaging system has potentially saved up to 7,664 minutes over the study period. All participants found WhatsApp easy to use and found it to be more efficient than the traditional pager system Conclusion: Compared to the traditional pager systems, the use of WhatsApp is easy, inexpensive, and reliable and can help improve the efficiency of communication within a surgical team.