ArticleBMJ open2021
General practitioner and nurse practitioner attitudes towards electronic reminders in primary care: a qualitative analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding "Alert Fatigue" in Primary Care: Qualitative Systematic Review of General Practitioners Attitudes and Experiences of Clinical Alerts, Prompts, and Reminders.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Safety-I Versus Safety-II: A Mixed-Methods Study Revealing the Imbalance of Approaches in Primary Care Medication Safety.Journal of patient safety · 2025Article
- Disappearing Text as a Clinical Decision Support Layer: A Case Series.Applied clinical informatics · 2025Article
- Effects of work-related digital technology on occupational health in the public sector: A scoping review.Work (Reading, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Missed care in neonatal intensive care unit: effect of electronic reminders.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- The sepsis journey and where digital alerts can help: a qualitative, interview study with survivors and family members in England.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesReminders in primary care administrative systems aim to help clinicians provide evidence-based care, prescribe safely and save money. However, increased use of reminders can lead to alert fatigue. Our study aimed to assess general practitioners' (GPs) and nurse practitioners' (NPs) views on electronic reminders in primary care.
designA qualitative analysis using semistructured interviews. SETTING AND
participantsFifteen GPs and NP based in general practices located in North-West London and Yorkshire, England.
methodsWe collected data on participants' views on: (1) perceptions of the value of information provided; (2) reminder-related behaviours and (3) how to improve reminders. We carried out a thematic analysis.
resultsParticipants were familiar with reminders in their clinical systems and felt many were important to support their clinical work. However, participants reported, on average, 70% of reminders were ignored. Four major themes emerged: (1) reaction to a reminder, which was mixed and varied by situation. (2) Factors influencing the decision to act on reminders, often related to experience, consultation styles and interests of participants. Time constraints, alert design, inappropriate presentation and litigation were also factors. (3) Negative consequences of using reminders were increased workload or costs and compromising GP and NPs behaviour. (4) Factors relating to improving users' engagement with reminders were prevention of unnecessary reminders through data linkage across healthcare administrative systems or the development of more intelligent algorithms. Participants felt training was vital to effectively manage reminders.
conclusionsGPs and NPs believe reminders are useful in supporting the provision of good quality patient care. Improving GPs and NPs' engagement with reminders centres on further developing their relevance to their clinical practice, which is personalised, considers cognitive workflow and suppresses inappropriate presentation.
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