Linda Dimitropoulos to serve on national health IT patient safety expert panel

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Linda Dimitropoulos, Ph.D., director of the Center for the Advancement of Health IT at RTI International, has been selected to join the National Quality Forum's Health IT Patient Safety Expert Panel for the Prioritization and Identification of Health IT and Patient Safety Measures project.

The project will explore the intersection of health IT and patient safety with the goal to produce a report that will provide a comprehensive framework and best practices to assess health IT safety measurement efforts, and offer recommendations for further improvements in the industry.

The panel is an extension of the National Quality Forum, a nonprofit organization that aims to lead national collaboration in improving health and healthcare quality. The multi-stakeholder committee overseeing the 15-month project includes experts in health IT data systems and electronic health records, front-line clinicians, providers, and leaders in patient safety issues related to the use of health IT.

The panel will assess health IT safety measurement efforts, review best practices and challenges in measurement of health IT safety issues, and identify important considerations for developing a framework for measurement of health IT-related safety events.

Dimitropoulos is a social psychologist and expert in the use of health information technology to improve care delivery. In her role as director of the Center for the Advancement of Health IT at RTI, she leads a group of informaticists, clinicians and policy analysts focused on the safe and effective use of health IT. She has more than 20 years of experience in health services research, qualitative research methods, survey research design, and evaluation and program planning. 

Dimitropoulos received her doctorate and master's degree in social psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her bachelor's degree in psychology from St. Xavier University.

Earlier this year, RTI was awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) to create a road map for the development of a national health IT safety center. Since 2005, RTI has successfully conducted projects for ONC, including managing several multi-year, cross-state initiatives focused on health information privacy, security and data exchange.