Public Biography
Dr. William Tierney is a distinguished figure in the field of biomedical informatics and health services research. He is currently a Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Population Health & Health Outcomes at Indiana University’s Fairbanks School of Public Health. Dr. Tierney is internationally recognized for his pioneering work in developing, implementing and studying EMRs and health information technologies.
During his first 36 years at Indiana University and the Regenstrief Institute, Dr. Tierney focused on advancing EMRs and health information systems. His efforts led to the creation and first implementation of OpenMRS, one of the world's most widely adopted EMR platforms, which has been implemented in over 50 countries. He played a key role in implementing OpenMRS in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, all nations where it became the national EMR system.
In addition to his work in informatics, Dr. Tierney has held several leadership positions, including president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, Associate Dean of Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine for Eskenazi Health, the country’s fourth largest safety net health system. He has also served as the Founding Director of Informatics and Research for the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), a collaboration between North American universities and Moi University in Kenya. To date, this program has received more than $260 million in research and training grants, more than 80% from NIH.
Dr. Tierney was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006 and has received the highest career recognition award in four disciplines: the Collen Award from the American College of Medical Informatics, the Glaser Award for Contributions to Generalism from the Society of General Internal Medicine, the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science, and the Feinstein Award for Clinical Epidemiology from the American College of Physicians. Besides being elected to fellowship in the American College of Medical Informatics, Bill is an Inaugural Fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London
In 2015, Dr. Tierney joined the University of Texas at Austin as the Founding Chair of the Department of Population Health at the Dell Medical School and helped develop the Global Health Program that is replicating the AMPATH model with a partner medical school in Puebla, México. He returned to Indiana University in 2021 to continue his work in improving population health and health outcomes in the Fairbanks School of Public Health.
During his first 36 years at Indiana University and the Regenstrief Institute, Dr. Tierney focused on advancing EMRs and health information systems. His efforts led to the creation and first implementation of OpenMRS, one of the world's most widely adopted EMR platforms, which has been implemented in over 50 countries. He played a key role in implementing OpenMRS in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, all nations where it became the national EMR system.
In addition to his work in informatics, Dr. Tierney has held several leadership positions, including president and CEO of the Regenstrief Institute, Associate Dean of Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine for Eskenazi Health, the country’s fourth largest safety net health system. He has also served as the Founding Director of Informatics and Research for the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), a collaboration between North American universities and Moi University in Kenya. To date, this program has received more than $260 million in research and training grants, more than 80% from NIH.
Dr. Tierney was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006 and has received the highest career recognition award in four disciplines: the Collen Award from the American College of Medical Informatics, the Glaser Award for Contributions to Generalism from the Society of General Internal Medicine, the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Clinical and Translational Science, and the Feinstein Award for Clinical Epidemiology from the American College of Physicians. Besides being elected to fellowship in the American College of Medical Informatics, Bill is an Inaugural Fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London
In 2015, Dr. Tierney joined the University of Texas at Austin as the Founding Chair of the Department of Population Health at the Dell Medical School and helped develop the Global Health Program that is replicating the AMPATH model with a partner medical school in Puebla, México. He returned to Indiana University in 2021 to continue his work in improving population health and health outcomes in the Fairbanks School of Public Health.
Morris F. Collen Award
Historic ACMI Biography
Dr. Tierney is a general internist, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, and a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute. He received an undergraduate degree in biological sciences at Indiana University where he also received his MD degree in 1976. He served as intern and resident at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis and was Chief Resident in Medicine at Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianaís only tax-supported public teaching hospital. In 1980, he joined Dr. Clem McDonald in the Regenstrief Instituteís Computer Science Research Section, for which he currently serves as Associate Director. His research focuses on the implementation and assessment of health information systems in Wishard Hospital. Specifically, he helped implement one of the first outpatient computer-based physician order-entry programs and showed that one could lower the costs of outpatient diagnostic testing by providing prior test results, probabilities of abnormal results, and costs of tests. He is currently assisting Dr. McDonald in developing and implementing this CPOE system on the inpatient medicine service of Wishard Hospital and designing and conducting a randomized, controlled trial of its effects on inpatient ordering, length of stay, costs of care, and errors. He has also performed clinical epidemiologic studies of clinical data stored in the Regenstrief Medical Record System, mainly to identify risk factors for abnormal test results. He also uses these data to identify patients in primary care who are eligible for studies. In addition to his research, Dr. Tierney also practices general internal medicine in inpatient, emergency room, and outpatient primary care venues. He was also the Director of Medical Manpower for the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, for which he also served as Sports Medicine Officer for Track and Field. He was been elected to Fellowship in the American College of Physicians in 1987.
Affiliations
The American College of Medical Informatics
Morris F. Collen Award Winner
ACMI is a college of elected Fellows from the U.S. and abroad who have made significant and sustained contributions to the field of medical informatics. It is the central body for a community of scholars and practitioners who are committed to advancing the informatics field.
Year Elected
1988