Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42527457›Full record

Articlenpj health systems2026

A simulation framework for evaluating electronic order workflows in integrated health records.

Yang Chen, Haoran Niu, Olufemi A Omitaomu, Soumendra Bhanja, Angela Laurio, Amber Trickey, Vijayalakshmi Sampath, Jonathan R Nebeker

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in npj health systems, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Yang ChenComputational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA. cheny4@ornl.gov.
Haoran NiuComputational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
Olufemi A OmitaomuComputational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
Soumendra BhanjaComputational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, USA.
Angela LaurioDigital Health Office, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.
Amber TrickeyDigital Health Office, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.
Vijayalakshmi SampathDigital Health Office, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.
Jonathan R NebekerDigital Health Office, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Electronic health record (EHR) systems are critical to modern healthcare delivery, yet the dynamic workflows that govern electronic order processing remain underexplored. Inefficiencies in these digital pathways can cause delays in care, repetitive workloads, and even patient harm. This study presents a discrete-event simulation framework used to reconstruct and evaluate EHR-based order workflows in a large integrated healthcare system. Using real-world data extracted from the Veterans Health Administration's Corporate Data Warehouse, the authors mapped order events to standardized state transitions and modeled their progression across different facilities of varying complexity levels. After being calibrated with empirical distributions of transition times and validated against observed time-in-system metrics, the simulation demonstrates close alignment with historical performance. Scenario analyses reveal that resource capacity constraints significantly amplify the impact of electronic order surges, which are reflected in the disproportionate growth in backlogs and processing delays. Adjustments in transition probabilities further increased recirculation and extended workflow paths. Network-based analysis identified Reserved, InProgress, and Completed as structurally critical states that function as hubs within the process network but the transitions in-between also act as major bottlenecks. These results showcased the effectiveness of simulation-based approaches in monitoring EHR order processing performance and evaluating consequences of workflow changes on healthcare network resources planning. The proposed simulation framework provides a scalable data-driven tool to support operational decision-making and improve the efficiency of electronic order management in complex healthcare environments.

Identifiers

PMID42527457
PMCPMC13354151

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.