Clinical Problem Database Launches to Inform Health IT Innovation

April 15, 2019 – AMA and student-run bio tech incubator Sling Health have partnered to launch a Clinical Problem Database intended to collect insights from submitted physician feedback to ensure future health IT innovation meets users’ needs.
The database allows physicians to share their real-world experiences with Sling Health’s network of entrepreneurs to promote the development of health IT tools that focus on addressing current clinical and administrative challenges faced by clinicians.
“Physicians and entrepreneurs are passionate about transforming health care, and by engaging collaboratively they can advance innovation that makes the health system work better for everyone,” said Michael A. Tutty, PhD, group vice president of professional satisfaction and practice sustainability at AMA.
“Through our collaboration with Sling Health, the AMA is helping physicians and medical students take on a greater role in driving technology forward that responds to real clinical needs. Gaining insights from physicians will help make medical technology an asset, not a burden,” Tutty added.
Currently, nearly half of a physician’s day is dominated by administrative tasks. Spending a significant portion of the workday interacting with EHR technology has made clinical care cumbersome for some providers, contributing to rising rates of physician burnout.
“The best medical technologies directly tackle pressing clinical needs, enabling higher quality, less expensive, and more efficient care,” said Sling Health President Stephen W. Linderman.
“Working with the physicians nationally through the AMA, teams of innovative students across the country are able to create new medical technology to address problems impacting providers on the front lines of patient care,” continued Linderman. “We look forward to expanding our collaboration with the AMA and enabling students everywhere to advance clinical care.”
The Clinical Problem Database will be an additional feature part of AMA’s Physician Innovation Network (PIN). PIN is an online community that links physicians with health IT companies and entrepreneurs to give physicians a more active voice in the development of new tools.
PIN was launched in 2017. So far, more than 3,000 physicians and medical students have joined the collaborative to inform the work of about 1,800 entrepreneurs.
Physicians who connect with entrepreneurs through the online network offer consultation and input to improve operating room workflow, eliminate guesswork for spinal punctures, pilot new health IT solutions, and identify developers to create new tools in accordance with clinicians’ needs.
Sling Health provides resources, training, and mentorship to teams of medical, engineering, and business students to address clinical problems through innovative health IT solutions.
AMA also runs an EHR training program through the Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium . The consortium was launched in 2013 to promote EHR training, physician leadership, and other skills.
AMA partners with 32 medical schools to ensure medical education adequately prepares students for the digitized, rapidly evolving healthcare industry.
In October 2018, all medical schools involved with the consortium committed to spending three years on projects centered on improving student well-being, addressing social determinants of health, boosting care quality, and enhancing patient safety.
“Our consortium of medical schools has been an invigorating and productive community of innovation over the past five years,” said AMA CEO and Executive Vice President James Madara, MD. “Knowing that our work to transform medical education is far from finished, the AMA is excited to continue to foster this environment where individuals and institutions can learn from each other and innovate,” he added.
The consortium is also continuing work on its existing competency-based programs and EHR training programs, as well as curricula promoting physician leadership, team care skills, health equity, and diversity in the physician workforce.