SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Pilot of a Novel Mobile Application to Assess Work Design

Pdf Summary

This study piloted <strong>GrittyWork</strong>, a new mobile application designed to measure clinician workload and work environment beyond traditional metrics like wRVUs, encounters, and financial data. The goal was to capture clinician perceptions of work using <strong>user-centered design</strong>, then compare those self-reports with <strong>electronic workload data from the EHR</strong> for a more complete assessment of hospitalist work.

The app was developed through iterative design phases. In the early phase, <strong>6 clinicians</strong> (4 physicians, 2 APPs) helped refine the application. In the pilot phase, <strong>30 clinicians</strong> participated from February to May 2023, including <strong>23 physicians (77%)</strong> and <strong>7 advanced practice providers (23%)</strong>. The study took place in a major urban academic setting with day-shift clinicians.

The app showed <strong>high usability</strong>, with a <strong>System Usability Scale score of 86 (SD 11)</strong>, indicating strong acceptance by users. Pilot data demonstrated that clinicians could report workload characteristics such as hours worked, number of patients cared for, and units covered. Comparison with EHR event log data showed meaningful correlations for physicians, including work hours and patient volume measures, supporting the feasibility of combining self-reported and electronic workload data.

A key qualitative finding was that participants emphasized the need for <strong>psychological safety</strong> and for the collected data to be used meaningfully: “must have psychological safety and do something with the data.”

The authors conclude that user-centered design can successfully produce a highly usable mobile app for assessing clinician work perception. However, further testing and adaptation are needed, and future versions should streamline questions by focusing on information not already available from EHR event logs.

Asset Subtitle

Marisha Burden

Meta Tag

Author List Angela Keniston, Lauren McBeth, Marisha Burden

Category Research

Concept GrittyWork mobile application

Concept clinical workload

Concept User-Centered Design

Concept Electronic health record event log data

Concept Clinician-reported workload measure

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization University of Colorado School of Medicine

Presenting Author Marisha Burden

Track Translating Research into Practice

Keywords

GrittyWork

clinician workload

mobile application

user-centered design

electronic health record

EHR event logs

hospitalist work

System Usability Scale

psychological safety

self-reported data

GrittyWork mobile application

clinical workload

User-Centered Design

Electronic health record event log data

Clinician-reported workload measure