Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. York Jiao as WUDA’s inaugural Director of Clinical Informatics, effective August 1, 2023. Dr. Jiao brings a wealth of experience and expertise in Clinical Informatics and Anesthesia, making him an excellent addition to our team. His dedication to advancing healthcare through integrating technology and clinical practice has been consistently demonstrated throughout his career.
Dr. Jiao’s passion for leveraging data-driven solutions to enhance patient care has led to significant achievements. His commitment to optimizing clinical processes, improving patient outcomes, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration aligns with our department’s missions and goals. A notable contribution has been his collaboration with Dr. Kannampallil in using a neural network to predict surgical case duration in real-time.
Dr. Jiao completed his medical training and anesthesiology residency at the University of Connecticut, after which he joined the pediatric anesthesiology division at Washington University for his pediatric anesthesiology fellowship. Upon completing his fellowship, Dr. Jiao joined the pediatric anesthesiology division, where he is currently the Director of Anesthesia at the Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis.
As the Director of Clinical Informatics, Dr. Jiao will partner with the Vice Chair of Innovation and the Director of Research Innovation on streamlining QI projects department-wide; develop a transparent, equitable, and expedient departmental process for individuals to pursue projects that require clinical data; form and provide stewardship of a departmental data governance committee to review above projects, provide feedback, fulfill data promises, and ensure accountability; partner with departmental, university, and hospital stakeholders to promote operational, research, QI, and educational missions; enhance the MPOG and ASPIRE datasets for improved reporting and value add for faculty; work with our Business Directors in developing appropriate and meaningful hospital contract QI metrics; and provide leadership at departmental and hospital meetings pertaining to QI activities.
Dr. Jiao’s appointment will undoubtedly strengthen our department’s commitment to delivering high-quality anesthesia care while embracing the latest advancements in healthcare technology.
Best wishes,
Michael and Omokhaye
Michael S. Avidan, MBBCh, FCASA
Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology
Head of the Department of Anesthesiology
Anesthesiologist-in-Chief, Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Omokhaye Higo, MD, MBA
Vice-Chair for Innovation