Acknowledging the Results of Blood Tests: A Study of Heterogeneity at Work

At the studied hospital, physicians from the Medical and Surgical Departments work some of their shifts in the Emergency Department (ED). Though icons showing the blood-test process were introduced on electronic whiteboards in the ED, these icons did not lead to increased attention to test acknowledgement. Rather, the physicians, transferred work practices from their own departments, which did not have electronic whiteboards, to the ED. This finding suggests a challenge to the cross-disciplinary work and norms for how to follow up on blood-test results in the ED.