Center for Pediatric Biomedical Informatics

The Center for Pediatric Biomedical Informatics was organized as a multidisciplinary group composed of faculty and staff with a background in informatics and an interest to optimally develop and use the electronic health medical record to understand and improve the quality of healthcare research and delivery in children.

The center’s primary goals are to utilize novel information technology, computer science and knowledge management methods to:

• Deliver safer and more effective care
• Increase the efficiency of care delivery
• Improve disease prevention
• Increase the effectiveness of translational research
• Improve knowledge access and technology-enhanced education
• Enhance regulatory compliance

To address these goals, the center’s primary objective is to derive meaningful data from electronic health records in support of organizational functions including: clinical effectiveness, performance improvement, quality improvement, risk reduction, regulatory compliance, patient satisfaction, safety and evidence-based care delivery. Other Center objectives include:

• Development of metrics to assess quality and variance in care delivery at Children’s National
• Provision of a home for the Clinical Decision Support and Reporting Group
• Provision of an academic and administrative home for faculty from each center with interest in informatics quality and research
• Improvement in system access and education for patients, families and community physicians
• Analysis of population trends
• Automated surveillance for adverse events
• Optimization of the computer-user interface
• Dissemination of knowledge through presentations and publications

Since the Center’s inception in 2006, members have been active at regional, national and international levels in information technology and informatics meetings and workshops, with multiple presentations and peer-reviewed publications.