The American Medical Association (AMA) has chosen nine organizations as recipients of the 2023 EHR Use Research Grant Program. With total funding of $589,000, these projects aim to explore patterns of electronic health record (EHR) use to enhance clinical workflows, improve patient care, and address clinician burnout. The AMA seeks to transform EHR technology into a valuable asset through evidence-based research. This program has already awarded over $2 million to support 26 studies since its launch in 2019.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has recently announced the recipients of the 2023 EHR Use Research Grant Program. Nine organizations have been selected to receive total funding of $589,000 to support their research projects focused on exploring the utilization of electronic health record (EHR) systems. These projects aim to improve clinical workflows, enhance patient care, and address clinician burnout.
By collaborating with leading researchers in the field, the AMA aims to gain deeper insights into EHR systems and evaluate their effectiveness in supporting efficient and effective clinical work. EHR systems have been identified as a major contributor to the ongoing physician burnout crisis, requiring urgent action as highlighted in the AMA’s Recovery Plan for America’s Physicians. The research supported by the AMA grant program aims to build an evidence base that transforms EHR technology into an asset rather than a burdensome task for medical professionals.
The following research projects have been selected as recipients of the 2023 grant:
1. AllianceChicago: This project will utilize EHR event log data to examine the prevalence and facilitators of relational continuity among primary care patients, clinicians, and care teams.
2. Brigham and Women’s Hospital: The research will investigate factors impacting end-user EHR screen time in the primary care setting, as well as the influence of inbox messages on EHR burden.
3. MedStar Health: The focus of this study is primary care physician EHR inbox prioritization.
4. Stanford University School of Medicine: The research will explore the frequency of text messaging in the inpatient setting, the relationships between team stability and inbox message frequency, and whether higher text message interruptions during order entry are associated with increased order entry errors.
5. University of California San Francisco: This project aims to assess the impact of e-visit billing on clinician EHR inbox time, EHR work after patient scheduled hours, and overall burden.
6. University of Colorado School of Medicine: The research will investigate whether inpatient EHR-based audit log data can help identify when workloads are leading to clinician burnout and patient harm.
7. University of Wisconsin-Madison: This study will utilize EHR event log data to examine the association between team support for medication orders and physician time spent on order entry in primary care.
8. Wake Forest University School of Medicine: The focus of this project is to study the amount of time primary care physicians spend working in the EHR during paid time off.
9. Yale University School of Medicine: Building upon previous research, this project will further explore physician retention, clinical productivity, and EHR use patterns in the emergency department.
Since the inception of the EHR Use Research Grant Program in 2019, the AMA has awarded over $2 million to fund 26 research studies. This ongoing initiative demonstrates the AMA’s commitment to advancing our understanding of EHR systems and their impact on healthcare delivery, to improve patient outcomes and support the well-being of physicians.
