What’s the most-used emoji in medical records?

Summary: Doctors are starting to use emojis in your medical records! A new study from the University of Michigan shows that emoji use by medical teams jumped from 1.4 per 100,000 notes to 10.7 by late 2025. Most of these emojis (64%) are found in messages sent directly to patients, while the rest are shared among the medical staff. The absolute most popular emoji? The smiling face with smiling eyes, which shows up in 40% of the notes. Doctors also use the old-school telephone and calendar emojis quite a bit. While the overall numbers are still pretty low, researchers were surprised to see doctors dropping smiley faces, bathtubs, and even fire emojis into official medical files. Interestingly, patients can't join in on the fun, because the hospital portal system blocks them from sending emojis back!

For more details, see Today's Hospitalist at todayshospitalist.com/whats-the-most-used-emoji-in-medical-records/ (opens in new tab)