Cerner, Children's National partner for pedi informatics

Children's National Health System and Cerner have partnered to create The Bear Institute, a joint effort the two entities say will be the first exclusively pediatric health informatics institute in the nation.

The two entities signed a seven-year agreement geared to evidence-based pediatric care delivery, research and education through innovation in health IT, according to a release.

"We believe this is the only such institute devoted solely to IT innovation in pediatric care," officials said in announcing the initiative. The institute will accelerate the development of fully-integrated EHRs, accessible to care providers, patients and families, healthcare facilities, educators and researchers within, and affiliated with, Children's National. It also will facilitate the rapid development of sophisticated health IT capabilities including: linking genomic profiles to decision support for personalized healthcare; matching patient information with a database of open clinical trials for research opportunities; and more nimble patient and family engagement with their health through secure, web-enabled portals and mobile devices.

Beth Walsh,

Editor

Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.

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