Emojis in your medical record? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-01-15 03:00

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A study of emoji use in US electronic healthcare records finds that while it's uncommon, doctors do use a wide range of emojis in patient notes. Researchers looked at over 218 million notes from over 1.6 million patients at a university's academic medical centre, finding over 370 different emojis and an increase in their use in 2025 compared to 2020-24. However, the rate remained low, with only around 1 in 10,000 notes containing emojis. The study authors say there can be concerns around misinterpreting emojis, particularly with older adults, and note that in their study emojis were most often used with 10- to 19-year-old patients, followed by 70- to 79-year-olds. They suggest that health institutions could consider tracking use of emojis and coming up with guidelines for their use.