Specific Aims:

1.       Investigate smartphone use and purpose of use among health care providers in an emergency department of a tertiary care Beirut hospital.

2.       Understand the perceived consequences of smartphone use on patients and health care providers.

3.       Understand the patients’ perceptions in regards to their providers’ use of smartphones while caring for them.

4.       Examine the factors associated with smartphone use in the AUBMC Emergency Department.

5.       Asses the perception of potential smartphone regulatory policies in the AUBMC Emergency Department.

Patients:

 Adult patients (18 years of age and above) presenting to the emergency department with low and intermediate complexity presentation (Emergency Severity Index 3,4,5) at AUBMC during the period between January 2016, and September 2016. 

Health care providers:

All of the AUBMC ED health care providers. They include: 7 core ED faculty, 27 clinical associate faculty members, 17 EM residents, 44 nurses, and approximately 14 rotating medical students during the 9 month study period. 

Patients:

A cross-sectional survey on a convenient sample of adult patients (18 years of age and above) presenting to the emergency department with low and intermediate complexity presentation (Emergency Severity Index 3,4,5) at AUBMC during the period between January 2016, and September 2016.  Patients presenting to the ED during the day (08:00 - 23:00) with an emergency severity index (ESI) of 3, 4 or 5, and are deemed not critically ill and fall in the accepted triage diagnosis will be screened and invited to partake in this study. 

Health care providers:

All of the AUBMC ED health care providers will be sent a survey via email with a link to the AUB online Lime Survey (https://survey.aub.edu.lb).