Prestigious appointment recognizes his pioneering work in electronic health records
For his significant and sustained contributions to the field of biomedical informatics, Jim Campbell, M.D., professor, internal medicine, has been named a fellow in the American College of Medical Informatics.
Initially formed in 1984, ACMI now has a membership of about 300 people from the U.S. and abroad. Each year, approximately 15-20 new fellows are elected to the college. The ACMI exists as an elected body of fellows within the American Medical Informatics Association.
Dr. Campbell has devoted more than 30 years of his career to development of a standardized electronic health record system and has been recognized internationally and in Nebraska for his efforts.
“Jim’s election to the college is a tribute to his contributions to the field of health care informatics,” said Kevin Fickenscher, M.D., president and CEO of the AMIA. “He is one of the individuals who has helped the field of informatics apply knowledge to the problems we face in health care, so that together we can increase quality, lower costs and enhance service.”
In 2009, Dr. Campbell received the first-ever Award for Excellence from the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation (IHTSDO), a non-profit association in Denmark.
“Jim really deserves this recognition. He’s been a leader in developing computer codes, which allow clinical language to be translated into language the computer can understand,” said Robert Wigton, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education. “You can’t underestimate the importance of Jim’s work. The entire accuracy of the electronic health record system depends on having the right codes.”
Dr. Wigton is the only other UNMC faculty member to be named an ACMI fellow. He was recognized in 1988 for his work in showing how computer-based teaching programs can make a difference in clinical decisions.