Workload In Neonatology (WORKLINE): Validation and feasibility of a system for measuring clinician workload integrated into the electronic health record

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to validate WORKLINE, a NICU specific clinician workload model and to evaluate the feasibility of integrating WORKLINE into our EHR.

Study design: This was a prospective, observational study of the workload of 42 APPs and physicians in a large academic medical center NICU over a 6-month period. We used regression models with robust clustered standard errors to test associations of WORKLINE values with NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) scores.

Results: We found significant correlations between WORKLINE and NASA-TLX scores. APP caseload was not significantly associated with WORKLINE scores. We successfully integrated the WORKLINE model into our EHR to automatically generate workload scores.

Conclusion: WORKLINE provides an objective method to quantify the workload of clinicians in the NICU, and for APPs, performed better than caseload numbers to reflect workload. Integrating the WORKLINE model into the EHR was feasible and enabled automated workload scores.