Better staffing and workload for VA primary care teams
Official title: Developing a New Method to Improve Primary Care Workforce Management
Funded at VA Puget Sound Healthcare System · NIH-11417031 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project develops a new way to set how many patients each VA primary care team manages so providers stay healthier and veterans get reliable care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Puget Sound Healthcare System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01HX003349-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11417031 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for contributing to this work are veterans who are empaneled to VA primary care teams and receive regular care within the VA system.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not receive care through the VA or are not empaneled to a VA primary care team are unlikely to see direct benefits from this project.
What this research studies
From a patient's view, researchers will look at VA medical records and clinic schedules to understand how much time different kinds of patients require over time. They will adapt a new method that uses patients' longitudinal histories to estimate primary care workload and panel size. The goal is to recommend ways to balance clinic efficiency with provider well-being so your clinic has the right number of patients per provider. Findings will be used to guide future tests of staffing and scheduling changes that could affect how care is delivered.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to better-staffed VA clinics, less provider burnout, and more time and continuity for veterans' primary care visits.
How similar studies have gone: This work builds on a recently developed method and on limited prior evidence, so the approach is promising but not yet widely proven in large VA-wide implementations.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nelson, Karin M. — VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Nelson, Karin M.
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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.