Supporting VA healthcare workers during the switch to a new electronic health record
Official title: Optimizing Employee Well-being and Retention during Electronic Health Record Modernization
Funded at VA Puget Sound Healthcare System · NIH-11365623 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will find ways to keep VA clinicians healthy, reduce burnout, and prevent staff leaving while hospitals switch to a new electronic health record.
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 | June 1, 2023 |
| Project end | September 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01HX003624-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11365623 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are VA clinicians and clinical staff at facilities planning or undergoing an EHR go-live, especially those providing direct patient care.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not receive care at VA facilities or who are at VA sites not undergoing EHR changes are unlikely to see direct benefits from this project.
What this research studies
If you receive care at the VA, this project looks at how switching to a new electronic medical record affects the people who care for you. Researchers will combine staff surveys, administrative data on absenteeism and turnover, and rapid feedback to identify clinician groups and sites at highest risk around EHR go-live. The team will deliver timely, data-driven recommendations to facility leaders so they can change practices before problems worsen. The aim is to preserve staffing, morale, and safe patient care during the EHR modernization process.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lower clinician burnout and turnover so patients face fewer delays and more continuous care during EHR transitions.
How similar studies have gone: Previous reports show EHR rollouts often disrupt staff and harm morale, and targeted workforce-support programs in other systems have sometimes helped, but broad, rapid-response strategies are still relatively untested.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wong, Edwin S. — VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Wong, Edwin S.
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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.