Homer Richards Warner (April 18, 1922 – November 30, 2012) was an American cardiologist who was an early proponent of

medical informatics Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic hea ...

Father of medical informatics, Utah’s Homer Warner dies
retrieved December 4, 2012 who pioneered many aspects of computer applications to medicine. Author of the book, ''Computer-Assisted Medical Decision-Making'', published in 1979, he served as CIO for the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, as president of the

American College of Medical Informatics The American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) is a college of elected fellows from the United States and abroad who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of medical informatics. Initially incorporated in 1984, the o ...

(where an award has been created in his honor), and was actively involved with the National Institutes of Health. He was first chair of the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, the first American medical program to formally offer a degree in medical informatics.Hall of Fame of Utah Technology Council, retrieved March 17, 2008
Dr. Warner was also a senior member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and president of the American College of Medical Informatics. For over 25 years, Dr. Warner served almost continuously on research review groups for the National Institutes of Health, the National Center for Health Services Research, and the National Library of Medicine.

Biography

He was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

on April 18, 1922. He joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was trained as a pilot but never saw combat. Warner received his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in 1946 from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He received his

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

, also from the

, in 1949. By 1953 he had worked at

Parkland Hospital Parkland often refers to a park. Parkland or Parklands may also refer to: Geography * Aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie and boreal forest (taiga) * Landscaped parkland, a managed rural area associated with European country hous ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and at the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

and had earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in physiology from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Medical Informatics

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Dr. Warner began his work using computers for decision support in cardiology at

LDS Hospital LDS Hospital (formerly Deseret Hospital) is a general urban hospital and surgical center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The hospital was originally owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but is now owned and operated by In ...

(now

Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit healthcare system and is the largest healthcare provider in the Intermountain West of the United States. Intermountain Healthcare provides ambulatory and acute health services, along with other medi ...

) in Salt Lake City. This ground-breaking work set the stage for the growth of the new field of academic study called medical informatics. In the 1970s, Dr. Warner and his LDS Hospital colleagues created one of the nation's first versions of an electronic medical record. Designed to assist clinicians in decision-making, Intermountain's now famous HELP system has been operational for nearly 40 years.

University of Utah

In 1964, Warner and his associates formally taught computer applications to medicine at the University of Utah in the Department of Biophysics and Bioengineering within the School of Engineering. In 1972, the department was divided, and Warner directed one of the two new units: the Department of Medical Biophysics and Computing in the School of Medicine.department of medical informatics at University of Utah
/ref> The department is internationally recognized for its contributions to computer applications in clinical care, medical education and research. The mission of the department is to improve health care outcomes through information systems in both the private and public sectors of the health care industry. Much of the department's success is directly attributable to Warner's accomplishments. The department has produced the largest group of medical informatics professionals educated at any institution in the United States. Warner served as director of the cardiovascular laboratory at LDS Hospital from 1954 to 1970 and was honored as Physician of the Year in 1985. In 1988, he was elected to senior membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. New members are chosen for major contributions to health and medicine as well as from related fields.

Death

He died on November 30, 2012, in

from complications of

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic pancr ...

Awards

Morris F. Collen Award.
Homer Warner wing of the IHC Medical Center in Utah

Intermountain Homer Warner Center for Informatics Research

Intermountain Healthcare officially opened a new center to support its clinical information systems on February 16, 2011, on the campus of Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Named after Dr. Warner, the Homer Warner Center for Informatics Research honors one of the industry's recognized fathers of clinical computer systems. Advanced information systems help caregivers improve medical delivery and outcomes. For example, these systems automate routine functions, facilitate communication among caregivers, support decision-making processes, and allow statistical analysis to help improve care processes and implement best medical practices. Intermountain has been an industry leader in using computers in the practice of medicine for several decades. Thanks to the hard work and vision of Dr. Homer Warner and his colleagues, Intermountain has an outstanding legacy on which to build all of its future information systems. Beginning in the mid-1950s, Dr. Warner began his work using computers for decision support in cardiology at Intermountain's LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. In the 1970s, Dr. Warner and his Intermountain colleagues created one of the nation's first versions of an electronic medical record. Designed to assist clinicians in decision-making, Intermountain's now famous HELP system has been operational for nearly 40 years.

Homer R. Warner award

The award was created by the Object Management Group (OMG), self described as "an international, open membership, not-for-profit computer industry consortium". It includes a $1000 prize, and is presented each year at the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). It is named for Warner. It is awarded for the paper that best describes approaches to improving computerized information acquisition, knowledge data acquisition and management, and experimental results documenting the value of these approaches.
retrieved March 17, 2008

Recipients

* Dr. Jessica S. Ancker, Associate Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine, in 2016 for her work titled, "Expanding access to high-quality plain-language patient education information through context-specific hyperlinks." * Dr. Kensaku Kawamoto in 2012. * Dr. Per H. Gesteland in 2011. * Dr. Milos Hauskrecht in 2010. * Dr. Hua Xu in 2009. * Dr. Joshua C. Denny in 2008. * Dr. Charlene R. Weir in 2007. * Dr. Hamish S. F. Fraser, Director of Informatics and Telemedicine for Partners in Health, in 2006. * Dr. Paul D. Clayton of Intermountain Health Care in 2005. * Drs. Paul Biondich and David Taylor jointly in 2003. * Dr. Randolph A. Miller, professor and chair of Biomedical Informatics, and David Sanders, research fellow in Biomedical Informatics, in November 2001. * Dr. Marcelo Fiszman in 2000 * Dr. Peter Elkin for outstanding contribution to the field of Medical Informatics.

Bibliography

Some relevant books listed at Oregon Health & Science University (OSHU) library:
Knowledge engineering in health informatics
Homer R. Warner, Dean K. Sorenson, Omar Bouhaddou. New York : Springer, c1997.
Computer-assisted medical decision-making
Homer R. Warner. Imprint New York : Academic Press, 1979. Papers published at ''Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association'

* "Medical informatics: a real discipline?" HR Warner. ''J Am Med Inform Assoc'' 1995;2(4):207-214. * "An event model of medical information representation", SM Huff, RA Rocha, BE Bray, HR Warner, and PJ Haug. ''J Am Med Inform Assoc'' 1995;2(2):116-134. To illustrate his contribution to informatics applied to medicine, on the patent called "Rules-based patient care system for use in healthcare locations" issued on January 1, 2008, the references list includes seven works where he has collaborated.United States Patent 7315825
Rules-based patient care system for use in healthcare locations, retrieved March 17, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warner, Homer R. 2012 deaths American medical academics University of Utah School of Medicine alumni University of Minnesota alumni Health informaticians University of Utah faculty 1922 births American Latter Day Saints Scientists from Salt Lake City Members of the National Academy of Medicine