How physician builders are transforming technology at UC Davis Health

At UC Davis Health, technology is most effective when it’s designed in partnership with the people who use it.

The Department of Clinical Informatics serves as the bridge between clinicians, operations, and IT, ensuring that health technology is practical, efficient, and aligned with care delivery.

Through programs such as the Practice Experience Program and the Physician Builder Program, the department helps improve both patient care and physician experience.

Bridging the gap between clinicians, technology

The Physician Builder Program includes 11 practicing physicians who are experts in Epic and empowered to build and optimize tools for their colleagues. Each physician builder partners with an IT counterpart and works under the guidance of Chief Medical Information Officer Dr. Scott MacDonald.

Having builders inside the clinical community speeds implementation of enhancements, improves communication between IT and clinical teams, and ensures that workflows are shaped by clinical insight. Builders can make small but meaningful adjustments that save time and frustration for hundreds of users.

Optimizing diabetes care

One project that highlights this impact is the optimization of the Pediatric Diabetes SmartForm, led by Dr. Michelle Hamline, Physician Builder and pediatric hospitalist, in collaboration with Dr. Carrie Schulmeister, pediatric endocrinologist.

Previously, tracking key data for pediatric diabetes patients required extensive manual chart review. The new SmartForm standardizes how clinicians document information such as diabetes type, diagnosis date, device use, comorbidities, and preventive care milestones.

Once entered, data remains in a centralized location and can be easily updated at future visits. Because the information is stored as discrete data, it can be pulled into Epic reports to support quality improvement, benchmarking, and grant applications.

Real results for providers, patients

The impact has been significant. The SmartForm saves providers about 30 minutes of pre-charting per visit, totaling 166 hours of time saved monthly for the pediatric endocrinology team.

“By far, it’s one of the most utilized tools in our clinic,” said Schulmeister. “With more than 1,000 diabetes patients seen at least every three months, the SmartForm has been revolutionary for our quality improvement efforts.”

The form has helped increase depression screening, nutrition and social work visits, and adherence to lab and vaccine recommendations, while improving data accuracy for US News & World Report reporting.

“When physicians design the tools they use, we create technology that truly enhances care — not just documents it,” said Hamline.

Clinically-driven innovation

Projects like this demonstrate how UC Davis Health’s Physician Builders make technology work for clinicians and patients alike.

“Our builders are not just advanced Epic users — they’re leaders shaping technology and workflows,” said MacDonald. “Their work ensures our systems accommodate the realities of clinical practice while advancing patient outcomes.”

If you’re interested to learn more about the Physician Builder Program, contact Dr. Scott MacDonald and stmacdonald@health.ucdavis.edu.