Eric G. Poon, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Vice President & Chief Medical Information Officer
Boston Medical Center
Biography
Eric Poon is the IS Director of Clinical Informatics at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also a practicing internist at the Brigham Internal Medicine Associates at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA. In his capacity as the IS Director of Clinical Informatics, Dr. Poon oversees the development and implementation of clinical systems applications used by physicians, nurses, and pharmacists and all inpatient settings at BWH, including the emergency room and the peri-operative areas. He is also leading the effort to define the 5- year clinical systems roadmap at the BWH.
His research interests have revolved around the use of health information technology to improve the quality of care and patient safety in both the ambulatory and hospital settings. His work in the ambulatory setting has focused on the efficient delivery of decision support to clinicians to prevent errors of omission and commission during diagnostic test ordering and review of test results. He has also worked to use information technology, including secure on-line patient portals, to improve the communication between clinicians and patients around health maintenance and the follow-up of abnormal test results. In the inpatient setting, he has conducted several studies to delineate the barriers to and facilitators of the wide-spread diffusion of computerized physician order entry. He has also led the design of electronic tools to ensure reliable communication and reconciliation of medication history during patient admission and discharge. His research also includes evaluating the safety, financial and socio-technical impact of barcode technology in the hospital pharmacy and nursing units. More recently, he has begun to explore the errors associated with the use of electronic prescribing.
Dr. Poon received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, his MD from Harvard Medical School, and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. He completed his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship in general internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA