The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded a research grant to the University of Iowa College of Public Health for its study on communication methods within EHR networks.
Iowa City-based University of Iowa researchers will analyze EHR-based communication among providers in virtual care teams. The study will also examine how EHR communication is related to patient outcomes, such as hospital re-admissions, emergency department visits and mortality.
"Today's healthcare professionals often work as virtual care teams — a variety of practitioners providing care to the same patients but working at different times and locations — all connected through the EHR," said Xi Zhu, a health management and policy associate professor at University of Iowa, according to a news release. "Yet, it's not clear how the EHR is impacting communication and teamwork among them and how those factors might affect the quality of care that patients receive."