ArticleCureus2025
A Resident-Led Innovation in Communication: Introducing WhatsApp Communities in a Large Internal Medicine Residency Program.
Article in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction Effective communication is critical in healthcare. Despite the availability of secure messaging applications, widespread adoption has lagged due to costs and clinician preferences. WhatsApp is a popular free messaging platform that is frequently used in healthcare settings, although its use raises concerns regarding the safety of patient health information. In recent years, WhatsApp has launched a feature called WhatsApp Communities (WAC), which allows for structured communication in large groups. We identified this as a valuable tool to improve communication and collaboration in our internal medicine residency program. Methods At the start of the new academic year, we transitioned from a single WhatsApp group chat to a WAC platform with multiple sub-group chats. After six months, we surveyed residents using a five-point Likert scale to assess satisfaction with the new platform. We also defined and measured instances of "undifferentiated patient-care notifications" (messages sent to all residents but only truly intended for a specific cohort of residents) and compared how often they occurred in the legacy single chat versus the new WAC platform. Finally, we implemented an intervention to eliminate inappropriate sharing of protected patient health information on the platform. Results Approximately half (57 (47.5%)) of all residents completed the survey. Satisfaction was high: 48 (84%) were satisfied with the new platform's organization, 49 (87.5%) with its timeliness, and 54 (95%) with its ability to keep them informed. Thirty-four (92%) residents who had used the prior single group chat preferred the newer platform. "Undifferentiated patient-care notifications" were reduced by 97% (from 204 instances to six). A chief medical resident (CMR)-led intervention yielded a statistically significant decline in the inappropriate sharing of patients' protected health information (PHI). Conclusion WAC significantly improves communication in a large internal medicine residency program. It is an effective, zero-cost communication platform, which makes it especially attractive to programs with limited resources. The sharing of PHI remains a concern but can be effectively addressed through targeted orientation and moderation by CMRs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.