Abstract:
Gero-informatics is the development, application, and study of medical informatics to improve health and healthcare of the aging population. Several common challenges impede the pursuit gero-informatics. First, although implementation of effective clinical services requires an information-based infrastructure to assess and improve quality, many common information systems do not meet the needs of geriatrics care. Second, conducting clinical research requires both the information systems and access to a laboratory of human subjects. Third, professionals with the knowledge and skills to work effectively at the intersection of geriatrics and informatics are uncommon. The creation of a gero-informatics program addressing these three challenges will be described and discussed.

Biography:
Michael Weiner, M.D., M.P.H. received his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine and M.P.H. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. He completed clinical medical training and a postdoctoral Fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins. He now has the following four roles: Director of Gero-informatics for the Indiana University Geriatrics Program; Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine; Center Scientist, Indiana University Center for Aging Research; and Research Scientist, Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Weiner's clinical and health-services research focuses on measuring and improving the quality, coordination, and delivery of health services for older adults. He studies the effects of health information and information technology on physicians' practices and patients' outcomes. He conducted one of the first institutional surveys of computer-based provider order entry systems, discovering important differences between nurses and physicians in their work with electronic medical records. He has been Secretary of the American Medical Informatics Association's Primary Care Informatics Working Group and currently chairs the Communications Committee of the Society of General Internal Medicine. Dr. Weiner has conducted clinical trials of patient-physician videoconferencing and a home-based telehealth program to improve self-management of osteoarthritis. Current research includes development, implementation, and study of information systems to promote clinical handoffs, patient-centered geriatrics care, and clinical decision support.