SUMMARY
The main research interest of anesthesiologist Vitaly Herasevich, M.D., Ph.D., is applied clinical informatics. Dr. Herasevich seeks to understand the role played by computerized systems and ambient intelligence in fast-paced hospital environments, such as intensive care units (ICUs) and perioperative environments. Dr. Herasevich's training in medicine, medical informatics and clinical research allows him to work on a full spectrum of clinical informatics projects in a critical care setting.
Dr. Herasevich also is a co-principal investigator of the Acute Care Informatics Laboratory. The lab translates digital data into actional bedside intelligence to improve clinical care.
Aligned with the tremendous progress of information technology and the electronic health record (EHR), Dr. Herasevich focuses on studying, innovating, developing and applying novel technologies in the hospital environment. The end goals of his research are to enhance patient safety, improve outcomes and increase healthcare professional satisfaction.
Dr. Herasevich pioneered studies leading to the creation of clinical syndromic surveillance alerting systems. These data sniffers promote early detection of specific organ failure syndromes, such as shock, sepsis and acute lung injury. Early on in his career, Dr. Herasevich designed a near real-time intensive care datamart. Its ability to track and integrate data makes it possible to conduct studies involving clinical prediction, reporting and data mining, in addition to traditional epidemiological studies.
Dr. Herasevich's later work resulted in the creation of the Ambient Warning and Response Evaluation (AWARE) System. This system improved compliance with best practices using a new electronic health record interface with built-in tools for error prevention, practice surveillance and reporting. The Food and Drug Administration approved the AWARE System and the sepsis sniffer prediction tool for use as software-based medical device systems.
Dr. Herasevich's current research is centered on enhancing patient safety and effective practice through virtual care. This is accomplished using wearable sensors and computer vision monitoring to augment traditional electronic health records.
Focus areas
- Clinical information representation, information overload and usability. Complex human-computer interactions and information overload present major challenges for enhancing patient safety and practicing efficient, rational and error-free critical care medicine. Understanding cognitive and organizational ergonomics while embedding those findings in electronic interfaces at the bedside could significantly decrease the cognitive load for healthcare professionals and reduce medical errors. Dr. Herasevich's work in this area focuses on creating novel patient-centered EHR interfaces.
- Predictive and prescriptive analytics. Dr. Herasevich is developing decision support systems that can analyze and correct a course of treatment in a semiautonomous fashion. This approach uses wearable and advanced sensors, including computer vision and virtual care, in addition to traditional data from electronic health records and bedside monitors.
- Technology development and information management. Dr. Herasevich is passionate about designing and developing secure clinical data representation, linkage and sharing to support clinical decision-making, reporting and the science of healthcare delivery research. Dr. Herasevich has continued to innovate in this domain since his early days in clinical informatics.
- Clinical surveillance and virtual care. Telemedicine provides a tremendous opportunity to deliver quality care to remote and underserved populations. Similar technologies allow for patient monitoring everywhere in the hospital and proactive screening using electronic algorithms. Dr. Herasevich's research in this area pioneered the clinical control tower concept for ICU and hospital-wide surveillance.
- Health information technology evaluation. Dr. Herasevich's long-standing interest in health information technology evaluation resulted in the publication of two textbook editions that outlined approaches to validate new technological interventions. Dr. Herasevich is now focused on developing simplified validation methods for health information technology evaluation.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Herasevich's research helps patients who are critically ill get better. Dr. Herasevich uses medical records, information technology and digital tools to help healthcare professionals spot developing problems such as shock and sepsis as soon as possible and to make sure patients get the right care quickly. His work also aims to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.
Professional highlights
- Mayo Clinic:
- Co-director, Office of Digital Innovation, Center for Clinical and Translational Science, 2024-present.
- Associate program director, Clinical Informatics Fellowship, 2013-2017.
- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS):
- Fellow, 2023-present.
- Board of directors, Minnesota chapter, 2020-present.
- Board of directors, Society for Complex Acute Illness (SCAI), 2022-present.
- Fellow, American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA), 2020-present.
- Senior member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2020-present.
- Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM):
- Fellow, American College of Critical Care Medicine (FCCM), 2016-present.
- Presidential citation for outstanding contribution, 2023.
- Chair, vice chair and past chair, Tele-ICU committee, 2017-2020.
- KL2 scholar, National Institutes of Health, 2007-2010.