MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – David Rich, M.D., has joined WVU Medicine as its chief medical information officer. He will oversee the clinical information systems for all hospitals and clinics that are part of the West Virginia University Health System.
WVU Medicine includes eight hospitals, two affiliate hospitals, four institutes, and clinics throughout the state and region.
“We want to ensure our patients, as well as our clinicians, get the most from our electronic health records and other clinical technologies,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Medicine West Virginia University Health System, said. “Dr. Rich will lead our efforts in this area, focusing on quality, safety, and the patient experience.”
With more than 16 years of experience in clinical informatics, Dr. Rich most recently served as the chief medical information officer and associate chief medical officer at Excela Health in Greensburg, Pa. In addition to his work related to implementation and optimization of the electronic health record for this three-hospital system, he led various patient safety, quality, and documentation improvement initiatives for the organization.
Rich obtained his undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his medical degree at the University of California, San Diego. He completed residency training in pediatrics at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Rich started his career in informatics as a liaison between the medical staff and the information technology team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, eventually becoming the hospital’s first chief medical information officer. In this role, he led an enterprise implementation of the Epic electronic medical records system, and developed a clinical informatics team to support system initiatives and optimization.
In 2014, Rich was among the inaugural cohort of diplomats for the Clinical Informatics sub-specialty sponsored by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
Rich has remained active in clinical practice and will see patients at the WVU Medicine Children’s Pediatric and Adolescent Practice at University Town Centre.