ArticleCJEM2026
Emergency department discharge instructions sent by text message.
Article in CJEM, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesDischarged Emergency Department (ED) patients should receive instructions about their condition, including self-care and return-to-care guidance, while satisfying medicolegal requirements. Verbal instructions are forgotten or poorly understood. Written instructions are best practice, but usage barriers include multifactorial inefficiencies getting them to the patient and patient challenges finding them later when needed. In this feasibility and uptake study, we sought to address these barriers by developing a website that enables physicians to send condition-specific discharge instructions by text message.
methodsWe recruited from the approximately 60 physicians working in the Saskatoon, Canada adult EDs, which serve > 140,000 patients/year. The physician visits our website, enters the patient's phone number, selects a condition, and taps "send." The patient receives a text message with a link to condition-specific discharge instructions. We analyzed link access data and surveyed physician feedback.
resultsOver a 2-month study period, 115 discharge instructions were texted (< 1% of an estimated maximum 17,000 discharges). 83% were accessed, 43% repeatedly. Links were visited quickly: 57% within one minute, 81% within one hour, and 97% within 24 h. 36 conditions were selected, most commonly concussion (19%), abdominal pain (9%), laceration (7%), and renal colic (7%). Seventeen physicians (28%) responded to our survey. 47% indicated they do not typically provide written (paper-based) discharge instructions. 87% ranked our system ≥ 8/10 in ease of use (0 = very difficult, 10 = very easy), 73% ranked it ≥ 7/10 in efficiency compared to usual practice (0 = maximally inefficient, 10 = maximally efficient). 93% said they would use our system going forward.
conclusionsOur study is limited by low physician uptake. However, positive physician feedback and quick and repeated patient access to instructions together suggest our approach might be a feasible way to improve ED discharge practice.
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