Why Do Doctors Still Use Pagers?

The first pagers were introduced to doctors in New York in the late 1940s. Over the next 40 years, the device would become a status symbol among the medical field. By the year 1990, over 9 million pagers were available in the United States alone. However, with the rise of cellular phones at the time, pagers started to become adopted less and less. Nowadays, to most individuals, the pager may represent a gadget of the past – a mere reminder of a time before smartphones. Yet, for most doctors, pagers still play an important role in day to day routines. Statistics show that over 85% of doctors still rely on pagers for communication. It’s the 21st century, so why do doctors still use pagers?

• Pagers are reliable

Larger medical practices and hospitals often have weak cell service. If you are in an equipment room or the basement of a large building, cell reception or a wifi signal is never a guarantee. Pagers can be used at any time and in any place, thus presenting strong signals and allowing for quicker response time. In spite of the availability of several wireless technologies, it seems pagers present the most reliability.

• Pagers offer wide coverage

Pagers use satellite transference, meaning that there are fewer dead zones for pager coverage. As a healthcare professional, pagers allow you to be reached in both urban and rural areas, where cell service may be limited. Additionally, if one pager tower fails, the signal is transferred to another, meaning that pages may be powerful enough to travel to hard to reach areas.

• Pagers have lasting battery-life

Pagers are low maintenance. The batteries within them do not need to be charged more than once every 2-3 weeks. During a power outage or natural disaster, doctors such as you, cannot afford to miss an urgent call. Having a pager handy means that the system will continue to work and allow you to be reached at any time - especially in case of emergencies.

• Pagers offer greater privacy

Privacy is and will continue to be a major concern in the healthcare industry. Today, smartphones can be tracked, forwarded, or even hacked into. This can result in privacy violations and fines anywhere from $50,000 to 1.5 million annually. Pager messages, on the other hand, are much more secure and they do not involve the storage of private patient information.

• Pagers offer quicker response time

The medical paging system makes it easy to send group messages or rather alerts instantaneously. This means that if you require assistance from your medical team, a pager is an effective way to notify and assemble your team as quickly as possible.

• Pagers are helpful during critical times

In case of natural disasters or power outages, smartphones make it difficult to reach out for help. Medical paging systems have proven to work effectively in areas where cell reception may be sketchy. Pagers outperform cellular networks and they work faster at the click of a button, allowing for better signal penetration and more dependable message delivery.

• Pagers offer high alert and awareness

Studies have found that when doctors receive pages, the alert is noticed much more than a text message. This is because the page stands for a particular purpose – such as an urgent matter – as opposed to a ringtone which can be a part of a mix of other alerts – text messages, emails, social media, etc. There is a quicker response and greater attention to a pager when it goes off.

• Pagers can be evaluated

Every time you receive a page message, the date and time are stamped along with it. This means that anytime you need to call someone back, this can be done much easier and with greater accuracy. As opposed to phone calls and text messages, pages are easily organized.

• Pagers are inexpensive

In today’s mobile technology dominated world, the cost of a pager does not compare to that of the cost of a cell phone. There is a major difference between spending thousands of dollars and spending hundreds of dollars every month. What’s more, if you lose your cell phone and you have an extended service contract, you will need to pay additional fees to replace it, whereas a pager can cost you as low as $20 to replace.

Of course, pagers are not without disadvantages as well. First and foremost, pagers only work in one direction. The sender sends a short message and it arrives a few seconds later on a small screen of the recipient’s pager with a loud alert. While this is a convenient approach in case of emergencies or in need of gathering a team of medical staff members, it can be a real hassle when you are on call. You never know how many times you will get paged and then there is the drawback in having to leave a patient in need and finding a phone to dial the right extension. Sometimes, another individual from a larger setting may respond to the call, meaning you will have to wait to be transferred to the right individual. Secondly, there is no way to tell if the recipient received the page. Thirdly, pagers do not differentiate among high priority and low priority messages, as all pages sound alike. Lastly, pagers do not offer the option for file attachments. In healthcare, patient diagnoses typically require test results and imaging in order to determine the most appropriate and most effective form of treatment. However, pagers are unqualified in facilitating with this necessary level of communication.

Pagers have been around for more than 50 years and at this time, technology has had a chance to grow, along with the rest of society. There is no doubt that smartphones have made a drastic impact in the world of medicine – allowing for instant access to medical information, automatic connection to wifi networks, as well as the ability to stay in touch and treat patients remotely. Still, pagers are continuously being used in the medical profession. At this time, it seems that the advantages to paging have proven to be an excellent choice under particular circumstances in the healthcare setting. Despite its inconveniences, pagers for doctors offer benefits that have yet to be modernized in this day and age. A pager’s alert cannot be ignored and its reliability is vital within the healthcare setting. Additionally, having a pager has a symbolic value as it can connect you to other professionals and patients in need, representing your availability to provide care whenever necessary.

As of 2017, over 2 million pagers are being used and they are mostly available among those in the medical profession. They are used in admissions, emergency rooms, pharmacies, radiology, and several other departments to notify waiting patients and family members. Nowadays, pagers are also used to communicate quickly and effectively with staff members throughout entire facilities. Doctors’ offices are utilizing pagers as a way to improve communication and remain on schedule at all times. What’s more, medical paging systems are eliminating the need for overhead public administration systems, offering patient feedback and improved patient experience. Despite the wave of innovations such as smartphones, Google Glass, and iPads, pagers seem to be addressing certain aspects where other types of technology have failed to do so. Surely, technology has nowhere to go but up and several changes will be seen among the healthcare industry soon; however, there are reasons as to why such technological advancements have not been able to replace pagers just yet. Pagers play a key role in medicine and their persistence represents the opportunity for new products to be created in the future, all specifically designed to address unique purposes. For now, doctors still rely on pagers as an irreplaceable form of wireless communication among the healthcare setting.