Cornell Targets Medical Informatics

Weill Cornell Medical College has established the Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy to conduct research on how information technology can improve the quality, safety and efficiency of care.

Rainu Kaushal, M.D., professor of medical informatics and chief of the college’s division of quality and medical informatics, is executive director of the new center. It will draw on expertise from personnel in multiple departments including pediatrics, public health, medicine, radiology, pathology and urology.

The center will measure the effect of health I.T. on clinical quality, safety, economic value, technology adoption, and consumer and provider satisfaction. It also will research new treatment and payment models including medical homes, bundled payments and accountable care organizations.

Other services from the informatics center will include education such as a training program for executives addressing technical, legal, social, financial and clinical environments surrounding implementation of electronic health records, and consulting services for community organizations, public and private health plans, physician organizations and hospitals, and information technology vendors. More information is available at weill.cornell.edu/chip.