INDIANAPOLIS – Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Chris Harle, PhD, M.S., a highly respected informatician, has been named chief information officer (CIO) of the Regenstrief Institute.
As CIO, Dr. Harle will lead operations and management of Regenstrief Data Services (RDS), which leverages data and informatics assets to support the pursuit of innovative healthcare solutions. He will be responsible for the RDS team’s roles in customer service and data expertise to researchers accessing healthcare data for studies.
In addition to retaining his position as an Institute research scientist within the Center for Biomedical Informatics, Dr. Harle will continue to serve as professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Indiana University Indianapolis Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and as an associate faculty member of IU Indianapolis Kelley School of Business, where he teaches business analytics for physicians.
Dr. Harle, whose appointment was effective November 1, brings significant experience in biomedical informatics leadership to the Regenstrief CIO position, including prior service as chief research information officer for University of Florida Health, where he was responsible for strategy and operations of research data services across the academic health center.
He will work closely with Jiang Bian PhD, newly appointed Regenstrief chief data scientist, who also will have roles with Indiana University and Indiana University Health, and with Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief’s vice president for data and analytics.
“We welcome Dr. Chris Harle to his new leadership role at Regenstrief,” said Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH. “His broad range of experience and his dedication to studying and improving health information systems is well aligned with our goals as we seek to ensure researchers can efficiently use data and tools to accelerate the translation of research into real world impact to transform health and healthcare. I am confident that Dr. Harle will help us execute our goals of expanding access to key data sources, empowering the use of cutting-edge technologies to enhance discoveries and implement dedicated infrastructure to support the effective use of data to deliver impact.”
Dr. Harle’s responsibilities will include overseeing access to Indiana Network for Patient Care (INPC) data for research purposes. INPC represents one of the largest statewide health information exchanges, comprising more than 100 hospitals representing more than 38 health systems and more than 20 million patients. The INPC was created by Regenstrief Institute in 1994 and is managed by the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Regenstrief Data Services provides data and expertise to more than 200 faculty annually who seek assistance in all stages of scientific research, including study design, data acquisition, algorithm validation and implementation.
Dr. Harle’s research focuses on bringing together diverse teams from different academic disciplines, healthcare organizations and information technology services to design, implement and evaluate the impact of health information systems. He is passionate about developing individuals and teams that continually learn while making a difference in healthcare and public health.
His work on clinical decision support tools to aid primary care clinicians in chronic pain care and safe opioid prescribing has led to the Chronic Pain OneSheet decision support system. OneSheet has been implemented at two major health systems, and Dr. Harle is working with a major electronic health record system vendor to distribute OneSheet nationally.
In mid-November, Dr. Harle will be inducted as a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), an honor accorded to individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of biomedical informatics.
Dr. Harle holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in decision and information sciences from the University of Florida and earned a PhD in information systems and management from Carnegie Mellon University.
