If it feels like you are answering more patient messages than ever, you are.
You start your day with a good intention: maybe today’s the day you finally catch up. But the messages keep pouring in. Ping. Ping. Ping. It’s like inbox Whack-a-Mole. You respond to one, and two more pop up. Each one wants your attention now.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning in patient messages, working after hours, or losing hours of your day to constant interruptions, you’re not alone and it’s not just your imagination.
There’s data. The numbers speak for themselves.
In 2021, across Yale’s primary care, medical specialties, and surgical specialties, clinicians saw a sustained increase in patient messages. Not a temporary blip. A sustained rise.
One six-month observational study found a 29% increase in Epic secure messaging, with messages flying back and forth at such a rapid pace that the interruptions themselves became the headline. It wasn’t just about the volume. It was about how short the response times were expected to be, raising concerns about the impact on cognitive focus, clinical decision-making, and even the risk of errors.
In a St. Louis mental health clinic, patient messages didn’t just rise. They skyrocketed by 860%.
And at Cleveland Clinic, more messages for primary care physicians meant more hours logged in the EHR after the workday was supposedly done.
This kind of data isn’t just interesting. It’s actionable. It can help you make your case when you’re advocating for more staff, reevaluating workflows, or beta testing messaging management systems. Numbers like these can support a leadership conversation about what’s sustainable, and what isn’t.
If you’re also trying to stay afloat in your charting, there’s help there, too. Dr. Robert Oubre offers practical charting strategies specifically for inpatient physicians and residents (and he’s got a newsletter worth checking out). For broader support, Dr. Sarah Smith offers tools for clinicians at every stage to reclaim their time and mental clarity.
So if you feel like you’re stuck in reply mode constantly chasing message after message without ever catching up, it’s not a personal failure. It’s a systemic reality. And you deserve both acknowledgement and support.
You’re not alone.
