The Utah CTSI accelerates the delivery of impactful, equitable health solutions from bench to bedside to populations. Our experts design new research methods and train the next generation to tackle complex biomedical problems. We look forward to providing comprehensive services and education for you and all members of our Mountain West research community
Organizations Involved:
University of Utah
Intermountain Health
Utah Department of Health & Human Services
VA Salt Lake City Health Care System
CoMagine Health
Association for Utah Community Health
University of Nevada Reno
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- STARS T32 Pre and Postdoctoral Program
- K12 Early Career Faculty Development Program
- MS in Clinical Investigation
- Pathway for Exploration in Research Careers
- R25 Program for Undergraduates from Historically Black Colleges & Universities
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- Biomedical Informatics Core
- Cellular Translational Research Core
- Clinical Research Support Office
- Clinical Research Unit
- Community Collaboration & Engagement Team
- Design Studios
- Research Ethics Consults
- Study Collaborations & Opportunities Team
- Translational Research: Implementation, Analysis, & Design
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Principal Investigators:
Rachel Hess, MD, MS
Jennifer Majersik, MD, MSAdministrative Lead:
Ashley Kapron, PhDContact: help@ctsi.utah.edu
David Classen, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Utah Health
Translational Science in Action:
Improving the National Safety
Performance of Operational
Electronic Health Records Systems
» Translational Research Barrier: EHRs were broadly adopted by hospitals and clinics in the last two decades with the hope that they would markedly improve inpatient medication safety by reducing prescribing errors and, subsequently, adverse drug events. However, numerous studies have shown that inpatient medication safety continues to be a serious problem. Multiple analysis have shown that this was due to deficiencies in EHR implementations (i.e., variability of clinical practice implementation for medication orders, where vendors solutions can create assumptions that negatively impact patient safety.)
» Translational Science Innovation: It led to the broad adoption of this tool from 130 hospitals using it in 2009 to over 3000 hospitals using it in 2024. Hospital scores on this test improved from 30% in 2009 to over 70% in 2024. Multiple serious safety vulnerabilities were identified in EHR vendor products leading to significant redesign of these products and the development of significant new capabilities which allowed for dramatic improvements in inpatient medication safety.
» Benefit /Generalizability: The results of this project led to changes in Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) guidelines and helped guide EHR optimization projects. Additionally, it led to development of an EHR evaluation software platform also known as the "Patient Safety Flight Simulator".
