Artificial intelligence to support ED decision-making
Official title: An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Understanding Trade-offs in Emergency Department Decision-making
Funded at Healthpartners Institute · NIH-11347520 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A large NIH-funded project aims to help emergency department teams make faster, safer triage decisions using AI tools and language models.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Healthpartners Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Bloomington, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | July 23, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $3,030,895 |
| NIH project number | 1R01NR022258-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11347520 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults 21 years and older who present to participating emergency departments and may be involved in AI-assisted triage processes.
✕Less likely to help
Patients not experiencing ED crowding or those not interacting with AI-assisted triage tools may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project explores how AI can assist emergency department staff, especially during crowded conditions, to reduce decision fatigue and improve triage accuracy. Researchers will create gold-standard ED decisions with expert input to benchmark AI tools. The work envisions deploying AI support for ED tasks to help clinicians make better decisions in real time. Patients could benefit from clearer, data-driven guidance during urgent care, while clinicians gain decision-making support.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, AI-assisted triage could lead to faster, more accurate patient prioritization and safer ED care.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary work shows AI can assist complex decision-making, but robust ED-specific gold-standard benchmarks are still under development.
Where this research is happening
-
Healthpartners Institute
Bloomington, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mabry, Patricia Lombard — Healthpartners Institute
- Study coordinator: Mabry, Patricia Lombard
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.