Helping ER doctors use a pulmonary embolism risk tool
Official title: Nudging Provider Adoption of Clinical Decision Support: Implementation of an EHR-Agnostic Pulmonary Embolism Risk Prediction Tool
Funded at New York University School of Medicine · NIH-11333795 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project adds simple behavioral "nudges" to an electronic pulmonary embolism risk tool to help ER doctors pick the right patients for CT scans, aiming to cut down on unnecessary scans for people with suspected PE.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | New York University School of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $737,063 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL169364-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11333795 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people who come to the emergency department with symptoms that raise concern for pulmonary embolism and who might be considered for CT pulmonary angiography.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not being evaluated for PE or who are clearly high-risk and need immediate imaging are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you come to the emergency department with possible pulmonary embolism (PE), doctors often order CT scans that may not be needed. The team will build an EHR-agnostic electronic tool that calculates a patient’s PE risk using validated rules and add behaviorally informed "nudges" to encourage guideline-consistent use. They will put this tool into emergency department workflows at participating hospitals and track whether doctors use the tool more and whether CT scanning goes down. The project focuses on practical changes to how clinicians make choices so patients could face less radiation and fewer unnecessary tests.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could mean fewer unnecessary CT scans and less radiation exposure for people evaluated for suspected PE.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies show that using validated clinical prediction rules with decision support can reduce CT testing by about 25% without missing PEs, but clinician adoption is often low and embedding behavioral nudges in EHRs is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
-
New York University School of Medicine
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Richardson, Safiya — New York University School of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Richardson, Safiya
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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.