Nikki Blaze, DHI ’24 serves as the Assistant Vice President of Information Services - Clinical Applications at Cincinnati Children's in Ohio. She joined the school in 2020 as a student in the second cohort of the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics Doctorate in Health Informatics (DHI) program.
1. How did you find McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics and why did you decide to study here for your doctoral degree?
I attended a Texas HIMSS Regional conference in 2019 where I visited the booth for McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics and first learned about the Doctorate in Health Informatics (DHI) program. The program was designed for a professional like me who had no clinical training but had been in the health information technology profession for many years. I attended a networking event in early 2020 at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics and was so impressed with Dr. Angela Ross and her talk about informatics. I researched the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics and was impressed with the school. After some encouragement from my peers and another person in the program, I decided to apply for the doctoral degree.
2. Tell us about your translational project and the work you completed.
I recently published my doctorate in health informatics translational project, “Implementing a New Clinical Note Template to Reduce Documentation Burden at a Pediatric Organization”. My translational project focused on using the information collected in the EHR to capture the most relevant information to improve the burden on clinical documentation. I focused on three components of the clinical note, with a focus on physician documentation. The three areas were the needs of the writer and reader, billing and coding compliance, and the use of copy-paste and copy-forward.
We surveyed the physicians and used the EHR data to determine note length, time in notes, copy-paste usage, and same-day chart closure. We designed a new clinical note template for four specialties based on the surveys and the EHR data. We measured the use of the new notes over three months. As a result of the latest clinical note template, physicians saved 13.6 minutes per ambulatory note and 1.6 minutes per inpatient note. Same-day chart closure in ambulatory settings increased by 15%, positively impacting coding and billing. The post-implementation physician survey showed a net promoter score of 4.4 out of 5 recommending the new note template.
3. Who was your academic advisor while you were a student and how did he or she influence you?
My academic advisor was Dr. Susan Fenton. Dr. Fenton served as the chair of my project advising committee and played a pivotal role in helping me establish a strong committee. She encouraged me to create project timelines early and to engage consistently with my advising committee. This guidance led to a well-organized schedule of meetings with my committee over a year. Dr. Fenton also motivated me to participate in conferences and speaking engagements. I often sought her advice regarding the direction of my projects, and her insights enabled me to present several times my work to the Houston Area Health Information Management Association and the American Medical Informatics Association. Her mentorship allowed me to discuss implementation science at work, which contributed to two promotions during my doctorate program. I am deeply honored to have had Dr. Fenton as my advisor and mentor.
4. Tell us about your professional journey and the role you have today.
I have been in the health information technology profession for over twenty years. I have played many roles within information services, first starting as an analyst and moving up through the ranks with my skills and expertise. While in the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, I was promoted to Director of the Epic EHR system at Texas Children’s Hospital and now Assistant Vice President over the Clinical Enterprise Solutions at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. My role today allows me to work under the leadership of the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer as we apply implementation science with a focus on understanding people, processes, and technology. I lead the Epic Digital Sustainability Program that supports our digital enablement maturity model.
5. What advice would you give to prospective students considering the DHI Program?
My advice to prospective students considering the DHI Program is to evaluate the time commitment and their organizational support. Time management and organizational skills are key components to succeeding in the program. It is up to you to ensure your success. Be sure you have the right support from your organization. Your project may require executive support so be sure they know exactly what you are trying to accomplish and what that means for the organization.
6. Take us 10 years into the future. What do you believe this industry/field will look like?
Informatics will play a pivotal role in the leadership of AI. The field encompasses essential elements such as policies, governance, strategy, safety, quality considerations, change management, and implementation science, all of which are crucial for the development and deployment of AI technologies. We observe that informatics is at the forefront of AI advancements through its contributions to literacy and education.