New York State Commissioner of Health Gives Keynote Address at Official Launch

Newswise — NEW YORK (March 30, 2012) -- Weill Cornell Medical College announced today the establishment of the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy (CHiP) to improve health and healthcare through informatics and technology. To commemorate the official opening, New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Nirav R. Shah gave the keynote address. The Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy fosters collaboration among a team of faculty from multiple departments to address issues at the intersection of healthcare informatics and healthcare policy. Its members conduct research; develop, evaluate, and implement new technologies to transform the healthcare system; and drive improvements in health and healthcare policy.

"We are facing a watershed moment in healthcare delivery in the U.S., and it is more important than ever to study the innovative ways in which we can transform its practice and delivery," says Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College. "The vital work of the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy will foster growth and effective use of technology, buttressing the healthcare industry for decades to come."

The Center's executive director is Dr. Rainu Kaushal, the Frances and John L. Loeb Professor of Medical Informatics and chief of the Division of Quality and Medical Informatics at Weill Cornell Medical College.

"Through collaborative efforts, the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy conducts research and offers services and programs that drive innovation, educate, and provide critical insights into how technology applications, solutions and devices can improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare," says Dr. Kaushal, who is also executive director of the Health Information Technology Evaluation Collaborative (HITEC) for New York State and director of Pediatric Quality and Patient Safety at the Komansky Center for Children's Health at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

The Center comprises members and affiliates from various departments, including pediatrics, public health, medicine, radiology, pathology and urology. They have expertise in informatics, clinical medicine, health services research, biostatistics, public health, healthcare policy, healthcare analytics, computer science, economics and decision science. Together they pursue the Center's mission to improve health and healthcare through research, education, service and innovation.

* Research: The Center conducts cutting-edge interdisciplinary research at the intersection of healthcare informatics and policy, focusing on the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and comparative effectiveness of a variety of healthcare interventions. Researchers measure the effects of health information technology related outcomes on such outcomes as clinical quality and safety, economic value, technology adoption, consumer satisfaction and provider experiences. The Center's health services research portfolio includes large-scale evaluation of transformative efforts and payment reform in healthcare such as patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, and bundled payments.

* Education: The Center offers state-of-the-art education. The Center's two-year Fellowship in Healthcare Quality and Medical Informatics Research training program provides an in-depth educational experience in health services research and informatics methods through classes and mentored research projects. The Center also offers the Health IT Certificate Program, a five-month executive-format program emphasizing pragmatic training to address the technical, legal, social, financial, and clinical environment surrounding implementation of electronic health records systems.

* Service: The Center provides expert services for community organizations, state and government health plans, physician organizations, hospitals, and information technology vendors in quality and process improvement, healthcare analytics and healthcare transformation.

* Innovation: The Center brings together experts from multiple disciplines to develop and evaluate innovations that improve healthcare, such as mobile devices, novel graphical interfaces, and natural language processing.

Center for Healthcare Informatics and PolicyThe Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy (CHiP) at Weill Cornell Medical College brings together interested faculty from multiple departments, including pediatrics, public health, medicine, radiology, pathology and urology to create a multi-disciplinary team for addressing issues at the intersection of healthcare informatics and healthcare policy. The Center seeks to understand the most effective ways to organize, manage, finance, and deliver healthcare through the use of informatics and technology. The Center's mission is to improve health and healthcare through informatics and technology by developing collaborative, robust programs in research, education, service and innovation. Relevant disciplines for this work include informatics, health policy and management, health services research, clinical medicine, implementation science, software development, computer science, public health, engineering, epidemiology and biostatistics. The Center is funded through competitive awards from federal and non-federal sources. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu/chip.

Weill Cornell Medical CollegeWeill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's medical school located in New York City, is committed to excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the art and science of medicine, locally, nationally and globally. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are engaged in cutting-edge research from bench to bedside, aimed at unlocking mysteries of the human body in health and sickness and toward developing new treatments and prevention strategies. In its commitment to global health and education, Weill Cornell has a strong presence in places such as Qatar, Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, Austria and Turkey. Through the historic Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the Medical College is the first in the U.S. to offer its M.D. degree overseas. Weill Cornell is the birthplace of many medical advances -- including the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer, the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, and most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally conscious brain-injured patient. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, where its faculty provides comprehensive patient care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. The Medical College is also affiliated with the Methodist Hospital in Houston. For more information, visit weill.cornell.edu.