David Classen, MD, MS

Dr. Classen is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Utah and a Consultant in Infectious Diseases at The University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Classen serves as a consulting CMIO advisor to Pascal.

He received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and a Masters of Science degree in medical informatics from the University of Utah School Of Medicine. He served as Chief Medical Resident at the University of Connecticut. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He developed the medication safety programs at Intermountain Healthcare; was the chair of Intermountain Health Cares Clinical Quality Committee for Drug Use and Evaluation; and was also the initial developer of patient safety research and patient safety programs at Intermountain Healthcare. In addition, he developed, implemented and evaluated a computerized physician order entry program at LDS Hospital that significantly improved the safety of medication use.

Dr. Classen is one of the co-developers of the “trigger” tool methodology at IHI, which resulted in the release of the Global Trigger Tool (GTT). The GTT is used to measure all-cause harm and has been used by more than 500 different healthcare organizations worldwide. The evidence-based trigger methodology provided an initial foundation for generating clinically validated adverse event outcomes using electronic healthcare record (EHR) data.

Dr. Classen was a member of the National Academy of Medicine committee (under its predecessor name, Institute of Medicine (IOM)) that developed the National Healthcare Quality Report and was also a member of the IOM Committee on Patient Safety Data Standards and was a member of the IOM Committee on Health Information Technology and Patient Safety.

He chaired the QUIC (federal patient safety taskforce) with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Collaborative on Improving Safety in High Hazard Areas. He was Co-Chair of the IHI’s Collaborative on Perioperative Safety and the Surgical Safety Collaborative. He was also a faculty member of the IHI/National Health Foundation Safer Patients Initiative in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Classen currently co-chairs the National Quality Forum’s AHRQ Common Formats Committee and is an advisor to the Leapfrog Group. He has developed and implemented the CPOE/EHR flight simulator for AHRQ and National Quality Forum. This EHR Flight simulator has been used to evaluate hundreds of inpatient and ambulatory EHR systems following implementation of EHRs across the United States and The United Kingdom. The EHR Flight Simulator is now a critical part of the National Quality Forum’s Safe Practice #16 for Computerized Provider Order Entry within EHRs.

Updated Jan 2023
Classen

FIRESIDE CHAT / WEBINAR | Patients Safety: Results of a New Blockbuster Study and the Use of Advanced Analytics and AI to Measure and Improve Safety in Real Time.

David Bates, MD, MSc, Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care, Mass General Brigham; David Classen, MD, Professor ...
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David Classen, MD, CMIO, Pascal Metrics, and Professor of Medicine, University of Utah, and A Jay Holmgren, Doctoral Candidate in ...
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An EHR-Based Real-Time Analytics Program for Patient Safety Surveillance and Improvement

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SI 2018 Annual Conference – 25th Anniversary

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SI 2018 Analytics Summit – Digital Health Data Strategy

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SI 2018 Pop Health Summit

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After 10 Years of Safety Testing of Operational EHRs What Have We Learned?

David Classen, MD, CMIO, Pascal Metrics, and Professor of Medicine, University of Utah. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine report ...
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2011 Spring Conference

2011 Spring Conference Healthcare Leaders Embrace Reform 2011 Wednesday, April 27 10 am Conference Registration 11:30 - 1 pm Welcome ...
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22nd Annual Spring Conference

The 22nd Annual Spring Conference Partnerships for New Models of Health Wednesday, April 29, 2015 1 - 1:15 pm Welcome ...
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SI 2017 CMIO Fall Summit

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Real-time ID of at Risk Patients at Adventist Health System

Loran Hauck Senior, MD, VP, CMO, Office of Clinical Effectiveness, Adventist Health System, and David Classen, MD, CMIO and David ...
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The IOM Report: Best Care at Lower Cost

Jim Conway, Principal, Pascal Metrics and Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard School of Public Health, and David Classen, MD, MS, Associate Professor ...
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The New IOM Report on HIT and Patient Safety: Safer Systems, Better Care

David Classen, MD, Vice President, CSC, and Associate Professor of Medicine Infectious Diseases, University of Utah. Dr. Classen reviews the ...
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2011 Spring Conference

“Healthcare Leaders Embrace Reform 2011” ...
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Meaningful Use: A Roadmap to Safe, Efficient and Effective Care

David Classen, MD, Vice President, CSC, and Associate Professor of Medicine Infectious Diseases, University of Utah, and Robert Reese, Global ...
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CPOE and Medication Safety: State of the Art and State of the Practice

Jane Metzger, Principal Researcher, Emerging Practices, CSC, and David Classen, MD, Senior Partner, Healthcare Group, CSC. The adoption of CPOE ...
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Moving Medication Safety to the Next Plateau

David Classen MD, Vice President, Dave Troiano, Senior Manager, and Julie Morrison, Principal, CSC, provide an overview of the current ...
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SI 2009 Spring Conference Summary

There might be some irony in the fact that Scottsdale Institute’s 16th Annual Spring Conference, held April 29 to May ...
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Co-Hosted with AMDIS: Pay for Performance: Leveraging IT

David Classen, MD, VP, FCG. This presentation is an update on the rapidly growing pay-for-performance movement, outlining the ever-expanding number ...
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2005 Fall Forum

“Clinical IT Successes in Community Hospitals: What Works and What Doesn’t” ...
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Pay for Performance: Leveraging IT

David Classen, MD, VP, FCG. This presentation is an update on the rapidly growing pay for performance movement in healthcare, ...
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2005 Winter Conference

“Enabling Ambulatory Patient Centered Care” ...
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CPOE Readiness in US Hospitals

David Classen, MD, VP, FCG, and advisor to Leapfrog Group, JCAHO, and the IOM, presents the results from his analysis ...
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2004 Fall Forum

“Advanced Technologies: Advancing Care” ...
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2004 Spring Conference

“Meeting the Future: The Role of IT and Process Improvement” ...
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Status of CPOE in Community Hospitals

Dr. David Classen, Vice President, FCG, Associate Professor at University of Utah, and advisor to the IOM, Leapfrog Group and ...
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Status of CPOE in Community Hospitals

Dr. David Classen, Vice President, FCG, and advisor to the IOM, Leapfrog Group and JCAHO, reviews his research and his ...
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2003 Fall Forum

MD Anderson Cancer Center ...
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2003 Spring Conference

“Renovating Healthcare Delivery” ...
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2002 Fall Forum

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2002 Winter Conference

Yarrow Resort Park City, Utah March 8-9, 2002 Agenda Presentations Park City Minutes [WORD format - 49kb] 1:00 pm- 2:45 pm HIPAA: ...
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