Dr. Dixon is an Assistant Professor of Health Informatics in the IU School of Informatics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). His primary research focus is on the use of information and computing systems to improve public health practice and clinical outcomes. This research has included the development, testing, and implementation of measures that leverage secondary data captured from electronic health records.  Research platforms include Regenstrief Institute, Inc. - in its Center for Health Services Research and its Center for Biomedical Informatics - and the VA HSR&D Center of Excellence on Implementing Evidence-Based Practice where he is an Investigator in Residence. 

     Dr. Dixon is also involved with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) and national HIE initiatives that aim to promote bi-directional exchange of health information to improve clinical and population health quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. His has contributed to the development and implementation of health information applications and systems, including tools supporting the standard clinical vocabulary LOINC®, technology supporting the automated electronic reporting of notifiable conditions, and tools for querying large clinical data repositories.

Active Projects

I. AHRQ HHSA2902008100010                               03/05/2008 - 07/09/2013

"Clinical Decision Support Consortium (CDSC)" (PI: Blackford Middleton)

Study aimed to demonstrate technologies developed for the CDSC in two primary care practice locations in Indianapolis, Indiana utilizing the Regenstrief CareWeb EHR application. Study supports the CDSC's ongoing work to develop and evaluate open knowledge management platform for decision support tools. Role: Co-Investigator.

II. CDC 1P01HK000077                                         09/30/2009 - 09/29/2014

"Indiana Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics" (PI: Shaun Grannis)

The project seeks to advance public health informatics through the development and maintenance of preeminent research, education, and practice. The project will support a number of multidisciplinary research and development activities in public health informatics over five years. Current projects include integration of geospatial data into the regional health information exchange (HIE) to enhance public health surveillance and reporting activities as well as enhance future clinical decision support services; improvement of identity matching algorithms and processes; and enhancement of electronic laboratory reporting using natural language processing techniques. Role: Co-Investigator.

1. Dixon BE, Grannis SJ. Why asking questions about data and their sources is important to public health informatics practice and research. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. 2011 Dec 22; 3(3).
2. Dixon BE, McGowan JJ, Grannis SJ. Electronic laboratory data quality and the value of a health information exchange to support public health reporting processes. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2011;2011:322-30. Epub 2011 Oct 22.
3. Comer KF, Grannis S, Dixon BE, Bodenhamer DJ, Wiehe SE. Incorporating geospatial capacity within clinical data systems to address social determinants of health. Public Health Rep. 2011 Sep-Oct;126 Suppl 3:54-61.
4. Gamache R, Stevens KC, Merriwether R, Dixon BE, Grannis S. Development and assessment of a public health alert delivered through a community health information exchange. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. 2010 Oct 26; 2(2).
5. Zayas-Cabán T, Dixon BE. Considerations for the design of safe and effective consumer health IT applications in the home. Qual Saf Health Care. 2010 Oct;19 Suppl 3:i61-7.
6. Dixon BE, Zafar A, Overhage JM. A Framework for evaluating the costs, effort, and value of nationwide health information exchange. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2010 May-Jun;17(3):295-301.
7. Dixon BE, Newlon CM. How do future nursing educators perceive informatics? Advancing the nursing informatics agenda through dialogue. J Prof Nurs. 2010 Mar;26(2):82-9.
8. Dixon BE, Miller T, Overhage JM. Assessing HIE stakeholder readiness for consumer access: lessons learned from the NHIN trial implementations. J Healthc Inf Manag. 2009 Summer;23(3):20-5.
9. Simonaitis L, Dixon BE, Belsito A, Miller T, Overhage JM. Building a production-ready infrastructure to enhance medication management: early lessons from the nationwide health information network. AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2009 Nov 14;2009:609-13.
10. Dixon BE, McGowan JJ, Cravens GD. Knowledge sharing using codification and collaboration technologies to improve health care: Lessons from the public sector. Knowledge Management Research & Practice. 2009 Aug; 7(3):249-259. doi:10.1057/kmrp.2009.15
11. Zafar A, Dixon BE. Pulling back the covers: technical lessons of a real-world health information exchange. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2007;129(Pt 1):488-92.
12. Crandall DK, Brokel JM, Schwichtenberg T, Henderson S, Haskins R, Wakefield D, Ward M, Dixon BE. Redesigning care delivery through health IT implementation. Exploring Trinity Health's IT model. J Healthc Inf Manag. 2007 Fall;21(4):41-8.
13. Dixon BE. A national roadmap for the adoption of e-health. e-Service Journal. 2007; 5(3): 3-13. DOI: 10.2979/ESJ.2007.5.3.3