Clinical Resources

About Us

Clinical Resources assists CUMC clinical departments with issues in health information technology (HIT) and its application in the care of patients. With expertise in clinical medicine and clinical information systems, we understand the needs of clinicians and how HIT can help or hurt. Whether making a build vs. buy decision, wondering what others have done, or seeking system interconnections inside and across CUMC boundaries, our knowledge and experience can minimize uncertainty, provide enterprise and other necessary perspectives, and maximize chances for the desired outcome. Thus we afford a more enjoyable decision-making experience for departmental clinician-leaders.

We are often called upon throughout departmental interaction with HIT software vendors to be of assistance in a number of ways. We help enunciate practice needs and information system requirements, and assist with RFIs. We provide informed assessments and critique of vendor system descriptions, of particular value during product demonstrations and reviews, and can make sure the right questions get asked. We can translate vender technology terms, abbreviations, and concepts for clinician decision-makers. We can help with understanding the ramifications of clinical software system choices in our complex CUMC environment. Vendors may fail to enumerate indirect factors, like costs for training, or system interfaces necessary for optional desired functionality. Sometimes vendors are "not yet" compliant with industry standards required in our complex health systems enterprise, which can be troublesome and expensive to address after contract signing, yet most departmental leaders have no reason to be aware of such policies and standards. We can make sure HIPAA requirements are properly addressed in vendor systems, and review vendor contracts to protect clinicians, practices, departments, and CUMC interests.

With grounding and experience in the issues and advances of medical informatics, the CUbhis Division of Clinical Resources is well poised to assist CUMC clinical departments with HIT and clinical information system questions, issues, and acquisition decisions. We are able to draw on the combined expertise of the CUMC Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI, formerly Medical Informatics) and the entire CUbhis organization. Faculty members in DBMI, recognized locally and internationally for their innovations in health information systems, are the architects and builders of WebCIS and predecessor clinical information and electronic medical record systems; they are the architects of the CUMC network that interconnects administrative, scholarly, and clinical systems for integrated access from single computer workstations; and they are the architects of standards used, and technology demonstrations referenced, throughout the field and industry. Because they are responsible for much of the clinical information systems infrastructure on the CUMC campus, DBMI faculty possess an intimate understanding of the local milieu that informs CUbhis Clinical Resources, and animates our ability to provide specific and special assistance to clinical departments in ways that vendors and consultants cannot. We are therefore happy to work with a departmentís chosen vender or consultant to make sure the job gets done correctly, and in a way that best suits stated goals.

Clinical Resources also brings special value by providing awareness and coordination of clinical systems activities across clinical domains throughout the health care enterprise, including present and future Hospital and University acquisitions and projects. Such knowledge can at times provide dramatic benefits like cost-savings and implementation time reductions.

Our service is available at no cost to clinical departments. We are supported by the Faculty Practice Organization in order to support the needs of clinical departments, as well as the perceived need for coordination of HIT systems, activities, and acquisitions across departments in order to maximize benefits and minimize costs via strategic aggregation of needs and resources.

Who We Are

Randolph C. Barrows Jr., MD MS is Assistant VP for Clinical Resources and a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Informatics since its inception in 1994. He is also Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Clinical Medical Informatics, Director of Strategic Information Systems for the Columbia Faculty Practice Organization in the College of P&S, and Director of Clinical Ambulatory Information Systems for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital at the Columbia University Medical Center. After board certification in Internal Medicine and years of clinical practice, Dr. Barrows came to CUMC in 1991 for fellowship training in the then Center for Medical Informatics, and in addition completed a Master's degree in Computer Science. After building a stat lab reporting system for the ICUs, an electronic medical record system for ambulatory care, and expanding network and clinical computing resources to exam rooms and offices in all CUMC-NYP ambulatory care areas, Dr. Barrows has held a number of positions with increasing responsibility in support of clinical information systems & services throughout CUMC environment. At the same time, Dr. Barrows maintained an active internal medicine practice until 2003, thus bringing real-world experience into clinical computing systems construction, maintenance, and management.

Kelly Cassidy, as Deputy Director of Clinical Resources, has in-depth knowledge, experience, and expertise with the IDX registration and billing system used by the Columbia Faculty Practice Organization, and exemplifies Clinical Resource's close support of CU faculty practice operations. Before coming to CU in 2002, Kelly worked for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young delivering health information services in outsourcing arrangements with various NY area hospitals.

Shibu Mathews is a University-funded analyst and programmer that works intimately with the NYP Information Services, Systems Interface Group. He exemplifies the co-dependency of CU and NYP information systems in the CUMC environment. Shibu assists with short and long term systems interfacing issues of importance to CU.

Contact Us If you have a question for the CUbhis Clinical Resources group, or would like to engage our services, please contact Dr. Barrows by telephone at x51624 (212-305-1624), or email at barrows@dbmi.columbia.edu. For urgencies, please page Dr. Barrows via beeper #3821. Dr. Barrows' office is on Vanderbilt Clinic 5^th Floor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.