Objective: To determine the prevalence, predictors, and characteristics of health‐related internet searches by adult emergency department (ED) patients; to examine the effect of searching on the doctor–patient relationship and treatment compliance. Design: A multi‐centre, observational, cross‐sectional study; a purpose‐designed 51‐item survey, including tools for assessing e‐health literacy (eHEALS) and the effects of internet searching on the doctor–patient relationship (ISMII). Setting, participants: 400 adult patients presenting to two large tertiary referral centre emergency departments in Melbourne, February–May 2017. Outcome measures: Descriptive statistics for searching prevalence and characteristics, doctor–patient interaction, and treatment compliance; predictors of searching; effect of searching on doctor–patient interaction. Results: 400 of 1056 patients screened for eligibility were enrolled; their mean age was 47.1 years (SD, 21.1 years); 51.8% were men. 196 (49.0%) regularly searched the internet for health information; 139 (34.8%) had searched regarding their current problem before presenting to the ED. The mean ISMII score was 30.3 (95% CI, 29.6–31.0); searching improved the doctor–patient interaction for 150 respondents (77.3%). Younger age (per 10‐year higher age band: odds ratio [OR], 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61–0.91) and greater e‐health literacy (per one‐point eHEALS increase: OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 1.06–1.17) predicted searching the current problem prior to presentation; e‐health literacy predicted ISMII score (estimate, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.20–0.39). Most patients would never or rarely doubt their diagnosis (79%) or change their treatment plan (91%) because of conflicting online information. Conclusion: Online health care information was frequently sought before presenting to an ED, especially by younger and e‐health literate patients. Searching had a positive impact on the doctor–patient interaction and was unlikely to reduce adherence to treatment.

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Objective: The completeness of ED medical record documentation is often suboptimal. We aimed to determine the variables associated with documentation completeness in a large, tertiary referral ED. Methods: We audited 1200 randomly selected medical records of patients who presented with either abdominal pain, cardiac chest pain, shortness of breath or headache between May-July 2013 and May-July 2016. Data were collected on patient and treating doctor variables. Documentation completeness was assessed using a 0-10 point scoring tool designed for the study. A maximum score was achieved if each of 10 pre-determined important items, specific to the presenting complaint, were documented (five medical history items, five physical examination items). Data were analysed using multivariate regression. Results: The presenting year, day and time, patient age and gender, preferred language, interpreter requirement, discharge destination and doctor gender were not associated with documentation completeness (P > 0.05). Patients with triage category 3 or pain score of 6-7 had higher documentation scores (P < 0.05). Compared to interns, registrars (effect size −0.72, 95% CI −1.02 to −0.42, P < 0.01) and consultants (−1.62, 95% CI −1.95 to −1.29, P < 0.01) scored significantly less. The headache patient subgroup scored significantly less than the other patient subgroups (−0.35, 95% CI −0.63 to −0.08, P = 0.01). For all presenting complaint subgroups, examination findings were less well documented than history items (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Documentation completeness is less among senior doctors, headache patients and for examination findings. Research should determine if the supervision responsibilities of senior doctors affects documentation and if medicolegal and patient care implications exist.Associated symptoms 130 (93.3) Eye exam 23 (7.7) †n = number of times an item was documented out of a maximum of 300 for each presenting complaint in 300 patients.