Charlene Weir, PhD

Dr. Weir received her bachelors degree in Psychology and Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Utah, a Masters in Adult Health from the University of Texas, and a PhD in Social Psychology also from the University of Utah. She joined the faculty at Utah and is now an associate professor of Biomedical Informatics with a concurrent appointment at the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center. A major focus of her research has been the understanding of factors important to effective implementation of computerized provider order entry systems, particularly in the VA setting. This work ranges from qualitative studies that identify perceived factors associated with success, to building predictive models of organizational and IT variables that quantitatively discriminate successful from non-successful adoption. Her research has also addressed the quality of electronic documentation and the extent to which copy and paste tools might be associated with documentation errors. Her background in Social Cognitive Psychology contributed to success in identifying factors associated with designing electronic health records systems that provide adequate cognitive support for sense-making and team coordination. Her election to the College recognizes these achievements in the theory and application of clinical informatics.