Dr. Doebbeling is a nationally recognized health care epidemiologist, health services researcher, and mentor. His research focuses on medical informatics, in the areas of social informatics, human computer interaction, and development and implementation of information and decision support tools to improve work and information flow. His methodologic work has defined new approaches to benchmark performance and identify determinants of program effectiveness. His research is interdisciplinary and cross-cutting in the areas of the prevention and management of antimicrobial resistance and patient safety, mental health, cancer and other chronic conditions. He has carried out ethnographic and survey research and secondary data analysis on clinical decision support and its integration into workflow with increasing focus on the assessment of multilevel factors associated with work, patient and information flow.

     Dr. Doebbeling currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health. He also serves as associate director for the AHRQ-funded Indiana General Health Services Research Fellowship Training Program and has developed successful clinical research training programs both in the VA HSR&D Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice (CIEBP) and at University of Iowa (NIH K30 and NIH K12 awards).

Active Projects

I. AHRQ/CDC                                                   09/29/2008 - 05/30/2012

"Spreading Techniques to Radically Reduce MRSA" (PI)

The objectives are to (1) facilitate the implementation and inter- and intra-hospital spread of evidence-based practices and strategies to reduce MRSA; (2) utilize information technology to share information on MRSA case status and feedback on progress; (3) investigator risk factors for healthcare-associated community acquired MRSA; and (4) work with hospitals in and outside Indianapolis, AHRQ and CDC in sharing lessons learned about implementing and sustaining culture change (lean, positive deviance) interventions and tools.

II. CDC Indefinite Duration, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Proposal        01/01/2012 - 12/13/2017

"Safety and Healthcare Epidemiology Prevention Research Development (ShEPheRD) Program: Domain 1 HAI Prevention Implementation"

The Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide multiple complementary initiatives through the SHEPheRD Program. This Program is designed to maximize the CDC's ability to perform translational HAI prevention research and this IDIQ contract is one component of this multifaceted research program focused on the performance of studies relevant to the prevention of HAIs using a task order mechanism.

1. Flanagan ME, Arbuckle N, Saleem JJ, Militello LG, Haggstrom DA, Doebbeling BN. Development of a Workflow Integration Survey for implementing computerized clinical decision support. JAMIA (In press), 2011.
2. Flanagan M, Welsh CA, Kiess C, Hoke S, Doebbeling BN.  A national collaborative in reducing healthcare associated infections: Current initiatives, challenges and opportunities, Am. J. Infect. Control. 2011 Jun 11. [Epub ahead of print] (In press), 2011. PMID: 21665329
3. Mohammed-Rajput NA, Smith DC, Mamlin B, Biondich P, Doebbeling BN, for the Open MRS Collaborative Investigators. OpenMRS, A global medical records system collaborative: Factors influencing successful implementation JAMIA (In press), 2011.
4. Chou AF, Vaughn T, McCoy KD, Doebbeling BN.  The implementation of evidence-based practices: Applying a goal commitment framework. Health Care Management Review, 36(1):4-17, Jan.-Mar., 2011. PMID: 21157225
5. Wesorick B, Doebbeling BN.  Lessons from the field: The essential elements for point-of-care transformation. Medical Care. December 2011; Vol 49:S49–S58.
6. Saleem JJ, Haggstrom DA, Militello LG, Flanagan M, Kiess CL, Arbuckle N, Doebbeling BN. Redesign of a computerized clinical reminder for colorectal cancer screening: A human-computer interaction evaluation. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2011; 11:74.
7. Russ AL, Saleem J, Justice CF, Hagg H, Ebright PR, Woodbridge PA, Doebbeling BN. Electronic health information in use: Characteristics that support employee workflow and patient care, Health Informatics Journal 16(4):287-305, December 2010. PMID: 2121680
8. Upenieks VV, Lee B, Flanagan ME, Doebbeling BN. Healthcare Team Vitality Instrument (HTVI): Developing and validating a tool assessing healthcare team functioning. J. Adv Nurs 66, 168-176, 2010. PMID: 19968727
9. Flanagan ME, Ramanujam R, Doebbeling BN. The effect of provider- and workflow-focused strategies for guideline implementation on provider acceptance. Implement Sci 4:71:1-10, 2009. PMID: 19874607
10. Flanagan ME, Patterson ES, Frankel RM, Doebbeling BN. Evaluation of a physician informatics tool to improve patient handoffs. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 16:509-515, 2009. PMID: 19390111.
11. Saleem JJ, Militello LM, Arbuckle N, Flanagan M, Haggstrom DA, Linder JA, Doebbeling BN. Provider perceptions of colorectal cancer clinical decision support at three benchmark institutions. AMIA Annu. Symp. Proc., 558-62, 2009. PMID: 20351917
12. Kopach-Konrad R, Lawley M, Criswell M, Hasan I, Chakraborty S, Pekny J, Doebbeling BN. Applying systems engineering principles in improving health care delivery. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Dec;22 Suppl 3:431-7. PMID: 18026813
13. Doebbeling BN, Chou AF, Tierney WM. Priorities and strategies for implementation of an integrated informatics and communications technology system for evidence-based practices.  J. Gen. Intern. Med. 21:Suppl 2:S50-S57, 2006. PMID: 16637961
14. Schneider JE, Petersen NA, Vaughn T, Mooss E, Doebbeling BN. Clinical practice guidelines and
    organizational adaptation: A framework for analyzing economic effects. Int. J. Techn. Assess. Health Care 22: 58-66, 2006. PMID: 16673681