Objective: To evaluate a novel clinic-focused Sprint process (an intensive team-based intervention) to optimize electronic health record (EHR) efficiency. Methods: An 11-member team including 1 project manager, 1 physician informaticist, 1 nurse informaticist, 4 EHR analysts, and 4 trainers worked in conjunction with clinic leaders to conduct onsite EHR and workflow optimization for 2 weeks. The Sprint intervention included clinician and staff EHR training, building specialty-specific EHR tools, and redesigning teamwork. We used Agile project management principles to prioritize and track optimization requests. We surveyed clinicians about EHR burden, satisfaction with EHR, teamwork, and burnout 60 days before and 2 weeks after Sprint. We describe the curriculum, pre-Sprint planning, survey instruments, daily schedule, and strategies for clinician engagement. Results: We report the results of Sprint in 6 clinics. With the use of the Net Promoter Score, clinician satisfaction with the EHR increased from À15 to þ12 (À100 [worst] to þ100 [best]). The Net Promoter Score for Sprint was þ52. Perceptions of "We provide excellent care with the EHR," "Our clinic's use of the EHR has improved," and "Time spent charting" all improved. We report clinician satisfaction with specific Sprint activities. The percentage of clinicians endorsing burnout was 39% (47/119) before and 34% (37/107) after the intervention. Response rates to the survey questions were 47% (97/205) to 61% (89/145). Conclusion: The EHR optimization Sprint is highly recommended by clinicians and improves teamwork and satisfaction with the EHR. Key members of the Sprint team as well as effective local clinic leaders are crucial to success.

A more robust process for identifying and selecting cases to discuss is needed, as is a stable, sufficient mechanism to manage the improvement initiatives that come out of each conference.

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Objective Large health systems responding to the COVID-19 pandemic face a broad range of challenges; we describe 14 examples of innovative and effective informatics interventions. Materials and Methods A team of 30 physician and 17 nurse informaticists with an electronic health record (EHR) and associated informatics tools. Results To meet the demands posed by the influx of patients with COVID-19 into the health system, the team built solutions to accomplish the following goals: train physicians and nurses quickly to manage a potential surge of hospital patients; build and adjust interactive visual pathways to guide decisions; scale up video visits and teach communication; use tablets and remote monitors to improve in-hospital and post-hospital patient connections; allow hundreds of physicians to build rapid consensus; improve the use of advance care planning; keep clinicians aware of patients’ changing COVID-19 status; connect nurses and families in new ways; semi-automate Crisis Standards of Care; and predict future hospitalizations. Discussion During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UCHealth Joint Informatics Group applied a strategy of “practical informatics” to rapidly translate critical leadership decisions into understandable guidance and effective tools for patient care. Conclusion Informatics-trained physicians and nurses drew upon their trusted relationships with multiple teams within the organization to create practical solutions for onboarding, clinical decision-making, telehealth, and predictive analytics.