Using Epic Diagnosis Data to Create a Case Log Reference Repository

Title: Using Epic Diagnosis Data to Create a Case Log Reference Repository
Authors: Julia Michels, Ashley Khouri MD; Boyd Richards, PhD
Date: 1/27/2025
Abstract: University of Utah medical students in their clinical years are required to keep a case log to track clinical experiences they see during their rotations. These case log requirements include “umbrella” diagnosis categories, patient populations, and care settings and are set by the SFESOM curriculum committee, as mandated by accreditation standards, to document the breadth of students’ patient care experiences during their medical school training. Students tend to find the case logging process arduous and frustrating. Many diagnoses don’t have a corresponding “umbrella” case to log under. In addition, there is no repository of past logged diagnoses to refer to while completing their personal case logs. The data is entered into Tools, and not easily accessed for analysis. Fortunately, most students rotate within Utah Health, which uses Epic for their EMR, and data can be extracted directly from the system. Given the challenge of case logging for students, we extracted data from Epic for LIC students in the class of 2025 to collate patient diagnoses they have seen. The data set was defined by identifying encounters with notes written by students (specific users were selected), and included the primary diagnosis and setting for each encounter. Once the data was extracted, we correlated each diagnosis to the best-fit case entry, with secondary and tertiary categories documented as well. For multiple modalities of searching, the ICD-10 code was added per diagnosis, and specialties/settings were included. All the data was entered into a spreadsheet that is easily searchable and can be filtered/sorted based on individual needs. The spreadsheet has multiple diagnoses for each case log category and includes almost 2,000 unique diagnoses for reference. The next steps for this project include disseminating the reference to students using the case log system, continuing to grow the database with more diagnoses, and eventually using data extraction methods from Epic to automate the case log process.

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Using Epic Diagnosis Data to Create a Case Log Reference Repository by Julia Michels, Ashely Khouri, MD & Boyd F. Richards, PhD