Reports and Products

Executive Summary

• SCHOLAR Executive Summary

Playbooks

• Education Offices and HPT EHR Uptake

AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting 2026

• EMPIRIC & SCHOLAR abstracts

Evidence Briefs

• SCHOLAR Evidence Brief

Journal of General Internal Medicine Supplement

• Volume 38, Issue 4 supplement

Additional Journal Articles

• Brunner, J., Ahlness, E. A., Anderson, E., Molloy-Paolillo, B. K., Braga, A., Cutrona, S. L., Helfrich, C. D., Levy, D., Matteau, E., Walton, E., Sayre, G., & Rinne, S. T. (2024). VA's EHR transition and health professions trainee programs: Findings and impacts of a multistakeholder learning community. Learning Health Systems, 9(2), e10460. https://doi.org/10.1002/lrh2.10460
• Ahlness, E. A., Molloy-Paolillo, B. K., Brunner, J., Cutrona, S. L., Kim, B., Matteau, E., Rinne, S. T., Walton, E., Wong, E., & Sayre, G. (2023). Impacts of an Electronic Health Record Transition on Veterans Health Administration Health Professions Trainee Experience. J Gen Intern Med, 38(Suppl 4), 1031-1039. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08283-4
• Ahlness, E.A., Rucci, J., Matteau, E., Walton, E & Rinne, S.T. (2026). Health Professions Trainee Experiences Transitioning to a New Federal Electronic Health Record: Applying Learning Health System Principles to Support Change Management in the Veterans Health Administration. JAMIA Open, 9(3), ooag053. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooag053
• Ahlness, E.A., Sayre, G., Matteau, E., Walton, E., Rinne, S. (2026). Evaluation of Health Professions Trainee Experiences Transitioning to New VHA Electronic Health Record. Federal Practitioner, 43(5), 186-192. https://doi.org/10.12788/fp.0682
• Ahlness, E.A., Levy, D.R. (2025). Examining Health Professional Trainee Burnout: Lessons Learned Using Qualitative Inquiry to Elicit Rich Data. Appl Clin Inform, 16(5),1568-1577. https://doi.org/10.1055/a-2624-5482

Cyberseminars

Date	Title	Series	Presenters
3/28/2025	“A case study of what an effective partnered evaluation can be”: The SCHOLAR/OAA Quality Improvement Evaluation	PROVEN Summit	Ahlness EA; Matteau E
7/24/2024	"Once you get used to it, I don't think it's that bad": Health Professions Trainee Experiences During the Transition to the New Federal EHR (intranet only)	Research & EHR Synergy	Ellen Ahlness, PhD; Edward Walton, MD, MHPE
06/21/2024	“Consuming” yet “manageable": Early HPT perspectives during Lovell FHCC’s transition to the new federal EHR	PROVEN Seminar Series	Ahlness, Ellen Walton, Edward Wong, Edwin Cotter, William
10/25/2023	Optimizing Clinical Education of Health Profession Trainees in VA: Understanding the Role of the EHR at Transition and Non-Transition Sites (intranet only)	Research & EHR Synergy	Ahlness, Ellen Walton, Edward Wong, Edwin
7/18/2023	Revisiting Focus Groups: A Systematic Approach to Collaboration beyond Operational Partners in Generating Evaluation Recommendations	VPR (VIReC Using Data and Information Systems in Partnered Research)	Ellen Ahlness, PhD; Sherry Ball, PhD
10/26/2022	Health Professions Trainees’ Experiences with VA's Electronic Health Record Modernization: Spotlighting User Voices and Initial Findings from the SCHOLAR QUERI Evaluation (intranet only)	Research & EHR Synergy	Ahlness, Ellen Molloy-Paolillo, Brianne Walton, Edward

Presentations and Posters

Oral Presentations:

• Brunner J, Sterling R, Cole E, Ahlness EA, Weiss J, Faas B, Nosbusch C, Wong E, Rinne ST, Cutrona S. Facilitating EHR transitions with experienced peers: A mixed methods evaluation of the VA’s NESSU program. AcademyHealth. Minneapolis, MN. 2025 Jun 7-10.
• Ahlness EA, Levy DR. Exploring health profession trainee burnout: How do we probe for rich data using qualitative inquiry? Lumivero Virtual Conference. 2024 Sep 25-27. Virtual.
• Ahlness EA. “At this point…I’m good where I am”: Health professions trainee experiences during Lovell FHCC’s transition to the new federal EHR. Proven Research Summit. 2024 Sep 20. Virtual.
• Ahlness EA, Levy DR. Exploring health profession trainee burnout: How do we probe for rich data using qualitative inquiry? International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. 2024 May 29-31. Virtual.
• Ahlness EA, Molloy-Paolillo BK, Brunner J, Cutrona SL, Kim B, Matteau E, Rinne S, Walton E, Wong E, Sayre G. Impacts of an electronic health record transition on Veterans Health Administration health professions trainee experience. Lumivero Virtual Conference. 2023 Sep 27-28; Denver, CO.

Poster Presentations:

• Ahlness EA, Brunner J, Cutrona S, Rucci J, Morrissey S, Molloy-Paolillo BK, Dashtestani K, Rinne ST. Comparisons between Employee and Health Professions Trainee Experiences Transitioning to Veteran Health Administration's New Federal Electronic Health Record. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 2025.
• Rucci J, Coogan S, Ahlness EA, Cutrona S, Helfrich C, Rinne ST. Listening to Learners: A national survey and learning health system approach to improve EHR training. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 2025.
• Ahlness EA, Matteau E, Rinne ST, Sayre G, Walton E. Improving VA’s Health Professions Trainee Experiences Transitioning to the New Federal Electronic Health Record through a Learning Health System. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 2025.
• Ahlness EA, Matteau E, Rinne ST, Sayre G, Walton E. A mixed-methods evaluation of Lovell FHCC Health Profession Trainee experiences transitioning to Veteran Health Administration's new federal electronic health record. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. Minneapolis, MN. June 2025.
• Ahlness EA, Matteau E, Rinne ST, Sayre G, Walton E. From “ready to get out of here” to “not that bad”: Improving VA’s health profession trainee experiences across sites transitioning to the new federal electronic health record. AMSUS Society of Federal Health Professionals. Baltimore, MD. 2025 Mar 3-5.
• Ahlness EA, Levy DR. Exploring health professional trainee burnout: How do we probe for rich data using qualitative inquiry? AcademyHealth. Baltimore, MD. 2024 Jun 28-July 2.
• Ahlness EA, Brunner J, Kim B, Molloy-Paolillo BK, Rinne ST, Sayre G, Ball SL. Reflection as a blueprint to roadmaps: A systemic approach to collaborating with key stakeholders in generating evaluation recommendations. AcademyHealth. Baltimore, MD. 2024 Jun 28-July 2.
• Ahlness EA, Cutrona SL, Levy DR, Stevenson LD, Wong E, Kim B, Rinne ST, Sayre G. Health professions trainees at Veterans Health Administration: Perspectives on electronic health record (EHR) learning, usage, and overall training experiences at EHR transition and non-transition sites. AcademyHealth. Baltimore, MD. 2024 Jun 28-July 2.
• Ahlness EA, Molloy-Paolillo B, Brunner J, Cutrona S, Kim B, Matteau E, Rinne ST, Walton E, Wong E, Sayre G. When learning curves compound: Mixed methods analysis of health professions trainee experience during an electronic health record transition. AcademyHealth. Seattle, WA. 2023 Jun 24-27.

Invited Presentations

• Ahlness EA. Modified Delphi in Refining Interview Guides. Seattle Qualitative Core Consult Group. 2026. Apr 8.
• Ahlness EA, Matteau EM. SCHOLAR: HPT experiences from Lovell FHCC’s EHR transition. Briefing. VHA EHRM-IO Communications Working Group. 2024 Aug 27.
• Ahlness EA, Matteau EM. “Once you get used to it, it’s not that bad”: Health professions trainee experiences during Lovell FHCC’s transition to the new federal EHR. Briefing. VHA Office of Academic Affiliations Designated Education Officer Meeting. 2024 Aug 27.

Public Scholarship

• Ahlness EA, Rinne ST, Sayre G, Walton E. SCHOLAR evaluation informs improvements in health professions trainee adoption of federal EHR. Navigator Newsletter. 2024 Oct. (Copy and paste into your browser if you have VA network access: https://tinyurl.com/5825nkpz)

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