Optimization Sprints: Improving Clinician Satisfaction and Teamwork by Rapidly Reducing Electronic Health Record Burden

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 on-site 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 -15 to +12 (-100 worst to +100 best). The Net Promoter Score for Sprint was +52. 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.