Why do doctors still use pagers?

[NapeSpikes]

Sorry for the pathetic question, but why do docs still use pagers? With text messaging, voicemail and paging capabilities, cell phones make pagers obsolete. Is it just because they're cheaper?

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[Jacks Mannequin]

Isn't it because of the whole code-system hospitals use?

 

[Hari Kari]

Sorry for the pathetic question, but why do docs still use pagers? With text messaging, voicemail and paging capabilities, cell phones make pagers obsolete. Is it just because they're cheaper?

I wouldn't want everybody under the sun to have my cell phone number.

 

[mfpullen]

Because running a pager network is quicker and easier than running a network relying on text messaging and cell phones. Plus, with pagers, you can dial one number and page every number on a list. Much more costly to do that with cell phones.

MFP

 

[sponge]

it's for their drug dealing business on the side.

Actually, I think it's because in many hospitals, you can't even get a good cell phone signal. Cell phone use is discouraged because it might interfere with equipment. That's what I've heard.

 

[f_w]

Sorry for the pathetic question, but why do docs still use pagers? With text messaging, voicemail and paging capabilities, cell phones make pagers obsolete. Is it just because they're cheaper?

- expense
- reliability
- better network coverage, typically work inside of steel reinforced buildings when cell-phones fail miserably
- pagers don't transmit a signal and have 0 likelihood of interfering with medical equipment

(I do prefer alphanumeric pagers though, saves you the occasional call back and allows to triage calls)

 

[emcsquare]

I work as a Systems Engineer and we are required to carry the pager as well.
I believe if the cell phone rings you feel obligated to pick and respond right away. Pagers give you some time to think over calm down and then respond. More over you dont want to associate every call cell phone ring with an emergency

 

[VPDcurt]

Batteries become an issue too. Cell phone batteries suck bigtime. Pagers take 1 AA battery and can use it for almost a year.

 

[bbas]

cell phones interfere with medical equipment

I think that is the main reason. I know that when I volunteered in the ER, anyone who wanted to use their cell phone had to go out into the waiting room.

Plus, I really wouldn't want to carry around a cell phone with me all day anyway. Pagers are smaller and easier to carry around.

 

[Gut Shot]

Sorry for the pathetic question, but why do docs still use pagers? With text messaging, voicemail and paging capabilities, cell phones make pagers obsolete. Is it just because they're cheaper?

So you can page yourself out of unpleasant situations, both in residency and beyond. All you have to do is keep your cell phone in your coat pocket and keep your own pager number at the top of your speed dial list. One push of a button and you're outta wherever you are in no time. Plus, a pager going off is very noticeable to everyone around, so people will assume you're working when you're actually sitting at Starbucks.

I haven't actually done this yet, but I'm sure the day is coming.

 

[LifetimeDoc]

Many pagers I see doctor's use support Text Messaging. This is much more efficient than talking to someone over the phone, where you might forget something said or fail/forget to write it down. I would find paging to be a much better method of communication, especially while multi-tasking, which I see most doctors do in their daily work.

 

[juiceman311]

cell phones interfere with medical equipment

Completely and 100% false.

 

[bbas]

Completely and 100% false.

When I had a CT scan done, I was flat out told not to bring my cell phone because it would interfere with the machine. From what I have read, the electromagnetic waves from cell phones can interfere with electronic medical equipment.

 

[PariPari]

So you can page yourself out of unpleasant situations, both in residency and beyond. All you have to do is keep your cell phone in your coat pocket and keep your own pager number at the top of your speed dial list. One push of a button and you're outta wherever you are in no time. Plus, a pager going off is very noticeable to everyone around, so people will assume you're working when you're actually sitting at Starbucks.

I haven't actually done this yet, but I'm sure the day is coming.

i've had visiting lecturers paged outta lecture...makes me wonder

i used to carry a pager, when i did call for this clinical study, it won me 2.50/hr that i carried it. ah i loved that thing, never went off on me

 

[Gut Shot]

When I had a CT scan done, I was flat out told not to bring my cell phone because it would interfere with the machine. From what I have read, the electromagnetic waves from cell phones can interfere with electronic medical equipment.

When I was an M3, my neurology resident (and one of the biggest technogeeks I've ever met) informed me that analog cell phones signals can interfere with medical equipment but digital ones do not.

 

[MollyMalone]

Completely and 100% false.

1: Mayo Clin Proc. 2005 Oct;80(10):1286-90.
Cellular telephone interference with medical equipment.
Tri JL, Severson RP, Firl AR, Hayes DL, Abenstein JP.
Division of Foundation Telecommunications and Network Services, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the potential electromagnetic interference (EMI) effects that new or current-generation cellular telephones have on medical devices. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this study, performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, between March 9, 2004, and April 24, 2004, we tested 16 different medical devices with 6 cellular telephones to assess the potential for EMI. Two of the medical devices were tested with both new and old interface modules. The 6 cellular telephones chosen represent the different cellular technology protocols in use: Code Division Multiple Access (2 models), Global System for Mobile communications, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network, Time Division Multiple Access, and analog. The cellular telephones were tested when operating at or near their maximum power output. The medical devices, connected to clinical simulators during testing, were monitored by observing the device displays and alarms. RESULTS: Of 510 tests performed, the incidence of clinically important interference was 1.2%; EMI was Induced in 108 tests (21.2%). Interference occurred in 7 (44%) of the 16 devices tested. CONCLUSIONS: Cellular telephones can interfere with medical equipment. Technology changes in both cellular telephones and medical equipment may continue to mitigate or may worsen clinically relevant interference. Compared with cellular telephones tested in previous studies, those currently in use must be closer to medical devices before any interference is noticed. However, periodic testing of cellular telephones to determine their effects on medical equipment will be required.

 

[strawberryfield]

nice reference. I'm sure they could interfere in some cases. I work at a doctors office, we don't have sensitive equipment, but cellphones are to be turned off because patients on cellphones can be f*ing annoying and inappropriate to the docs, employees and other patients.

In my mind, with a pager, docs can respond when they are available and not in the middle of something... without having to answer and make someone hold or take a call at an inappropriate time. makes sense to me. Most pagers do have a text function that will display who is calling, their number and what the call is regarding (just a few characters though)

 

[mhofmann]

In their most recent analysis of cellular telephones and medical equipment, Mayo Clinic researchers report in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings that the cellular telephones tested did not interfere with medical devices that were more than three feet away, marking an improvement. In the current study, 44 percent of the devices recorded some interference from the cellular telephones but the vast majority of this interference should not have had any significance for the patient.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=31867

Same study

 

[Depakote]

Batteries become an issue too. Cell phone batteries suck bigtime. Pagers take 1 AA battery and can use it for almost a year.

I need to get one of those batteries. The pager I have for work lasts 2 weeks tops on one battery and it ALWAYS dies at 2 am on the weekend with a very loud Battery Dying Alarm.

 

[Twitch]

So you can page yourself out of unpleasant situations, both in residency and beyond. All you have to do is keep your cell phone in your coat pocket and keep your own pager number at the top of your speed dial list. One push of a button and you're outta wherever you are in no time. Plus, a pager going off is very noticeable to everyone around, so people will assume you're working when you're actually sitting at Starbucks.

I haven't actually done this yet, but I'm sure the day is coming.

This works great for bad dates as well. Pre-emptively it's also used for blind dates where you have a buddy page you at some time during the date. At which point you can just ignore it and focus on your interesting date or exclaim <some emergency> requires your immediate attention and that you'll call her

 

[Hurricane95]

Proper design of medical equipment that could be exposed to EM radiation calls for adequate cable shielding and other measures. A lot of devices are shielded with a metal casing that protects from interference produced by magnetic sources or even other more intense signal emitters. Almost anything can interfere with sensitive electrical equipment used in hospitals, even the 60 Hz alternating voltage in the fluorescent lighting overhead. That's one of the primary design elements taught in all biomedical instrumentation courses. That being said, I wouldn't trust cell phones near very sensitive equipment like electroencephalograms, in which the slightest bit of outside distortion could lead to misdiagnosis since the input biosignal is so weak.

 

[scotttennis]

I know a doctor who wanted to get rid of his pager and just use a "paging" feature on his cell phone. However, he had to go to using both a pager and a cell phone because the pager works everywhere while the cell phone's reception does not.

 

[hardy]

I worked for a company that deployed alert systems for a while and the main reason pagers are still used is reliability. It is much easier to send out a one time paging signal than having a two way connection in a cell phone. Your pager is going to work pretty much anywhere (in buildings, basements etc.) whereas the cell phone signal is very dependent upon your location. One reason is that the FCC allows for much higher burst signals in pagers than in cell phones, ie higher power.
Also, the pager systems for fire companies and police are usually digital now with redundant channels (signal usually goes out on 2-3 different frequencies with different propagation characteristics).Many hospitals have similar systems now and as long as cell phones aren't reliable, they are here to stay.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Batteries become an issue too. Cell phone batteries suck bigtime. Pagers take 1 AA battery and can use it for almost a year.

Uhh not my pager.. about 2 months.. im blowing up all the time..

what can i say.. its all the chix trying to score a date with me

Kidding about the girl part but serious about battery life.

 

[Kuba]

cell phones interfere with medical equipment

I work in a Level 1 Trauma Center ER and every doc and nurse has a cell phone. We are all alowed to bring cell phones to work, but we keep signs up anyway prohibiting patient cell phones since it is annoying to have lots of patients on cell phones when you are trying to take a history. That reference that was provided seesm to contradict this..but Im just letting you know what happens at Hartford Hospital.

 

[StevenRF]

Why don't they switch to blackberries instead of pagers? You get all the info, its digital, its cheap, and it can sink up with a network. Get with the times already.

It was such a shock when I started shadowing a couple years ago. I was like, "who the hell still uses pagers in this day and age?" That and I didn't know the proper way to dial a pager.

 

[f_w]

The funny thing in hospitals is that some underemployed RN will go beserk if you use the your 250mW/1900Mhz cellphone in a hallway and accuse you of trying to kill 'her' patients. At the same time, the hospital security guard will squak some inconsequential drivel into his 8W/440Mhz UHF radio (which is well known to wreak havoc on monitoring equipment and even IV pumps).

Cellphones, blackberries and anything else emitting an RF signal have the potential to interfere with medical equipment and therefore a no-no in a patient care area (the HH ED will also get 22 CT scans in 4 months on the same patient with kidney stones, doesn't make it the standard of care either).

 

[QuikClot]

Why don't they switch to blackberries instead of pagers? You get all the info, its digital, its cheap, and it can sink up with a network. Get with the times already.

Cheap, reliable, and simple beats expensive, flashy, and complex.

The pager is a tool used to do your job -- not something to impress the girls with.

The technology is perfect for what needs to be done, and is extremely robust. We use pagers on 911 cars; the fire department uses them as well. They're as obsolete as a stethoscope.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Sorry for the pathetic question, but why do docs still use pagers? With text messaging, voicemail and paging capabilities, cell phones make pagers obsolete. Is it just because they're cheaper?

Hospitals do not provide cell phones to physicians. It cannot be assumed that all physicians have cell phones, and even if they do, that physicians want to pay for the text messages recieved from the hospital.

 

[geekOCD]

I think a real reason is because if there's a big emergency (city/state/nation-wide) then cell-phone networks go down REAL quick. Landlines + pagers is a much more stable and reliable system.

 

[combatmedic]

cell phones interfere with medical equipment

bingo

 

[DoctorPardi]

One reason I didn't notice being posted already could be that doctors have cell phones but from what I've seen they are usually the doctor's actual personal cell phone not a hospital supplied cell phone. So the doctor probably wouldn't want his personal phone numbered plastered all over the hospital so anybody can call him.

A pager is so non-personal that it doesn't matter if "the wrong person" got a hold of the number. Not that employees of hospitals or patients make a habbit of harassing doctors, but I could certainly see a situation where that could arise. If a patient felt he wasn't treated fairly and notices on the wall "Dr. Pardi's Cell: 123-4567" they might call and give him some grief. It is just a thought.

 

[Taurus]

Chicks dig pagers, man. It makes us look important.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Why pagers?

Simple... "paging Dr. ______" sounds 10x cooler than "text-messaging Dr. _____"
-Dr. P.

 

[8744]

Why pagers? Simple. Do you really want to talk to everybody who wants to get in touch with you?

Of course not.

 

[Depakote]

Also the point that has been made already, but worth repeating.

My cell phone doesn't work most places in the building I'm in. The pager I have will go off no matter where I am. I don't know how, but the bastard just does.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Why pagers?

Simple... "paging Dr. ______" sounds 10x cooler than "text-messaging Dr. _____"
-Dr. P.

"Pepper". You were looking for "Pepper".

 

[63768]

cheaper technology. better than supplying every doctor/nurse/allied health pro with a cell phone. sometimes new technology cannot surpass old technology.

 

[drmota]

it's less imposing than a ball and chain.
-mota

 

[deuist]

cell phones interfere with medical equipment

Bingo! Cell phones interfere with telemetry equipment. They aren't allowed in ICU's.

 

[Law2Doc]

My cell phone doesn't work most places in the building I'm in. The pager I have will go off no matter where I am. I don't know how, but the bastard just does.

I totally agree with this reason -- I can't get a signal almost anywhere in the hospital. Probably something in radiology is screwing up the signal (rather than the other way round). At any rate, pagers seem to work where cell phones don't. It has more to do with this than the cost or any other reason mentioned on this thread.

 

[Kuba]

I totally agree with this reason -- I can't get a signal almost anywhere in the hospital. Probably something in radiology is screwing up the signal (rather than the other way round). At any rate, pagers seem to work where cell phones don't. It has more to do with this than the cost or any other reason mentioned on this thread.

Touche!