The Division of Bioinformatics is committed to leveraging technology in order to improve the care that patients receive throughout the perioperative period. 

Binary formed to look like a warp tunnel.

At the core of the division is the ongoing development of the Perioperative Data Warehouse (PDW), a custom-built, SQL-based data warehouse that extracts key data from EPIC (UCLA's electronic medical record) and organizes it into a more user-accessible format in a highly validated and structured way.

The PDW contains over 4000 distinct measures and metrics that have been independently validated by practicing clinicians, and contain data from across the perioperative period.

Data from the PDW constitute the source material for numerous peer-reviewed publications, and are integrated with UCLA Health's Self-Service Strategy (powered by Tableau). Results are disseminated via online dashboards and direct emails to members of our department as well as the wider health system. The concepts behind the development of this "data mart" have been published in peer-reviewed literature and are the foundation for departmental quality and research purposes. The PDW is the official reporting system for operating room management at UCLA Health.

Faculty members in the Division are board-certified or in the process of becoming board-certified in Medical Informatics. In addition to their work providing data and analytic support to the range of departmental and health system programs, our faculty and staff are involved in a wide range of research activities:

  • Retrospective studies using data from our data warehouse
  • Clinical decision support projects
  • Understanding and improving the accuracy of data from the EMR
  • Predictive analytics and machine learning
  • Collaborative projects with surgeons and physicians in other specialties.

The division is actively engaged in the education of our residents and fellows in the form of a resident didactic lecture series and individualized mentorship as needed, in addition to support of one of the resident research scholars.

We offer a one-year, non-ACGME accredited fellowship in perioperative informatics. The fellowship can be tailored to the specific needs and interests of the fellow, and is designed to provide experience across a broad array of perioperative informatics, including:

  • Database structure and design
  • SQL programming and "big data" analytics
  • Data visualization and presentation
  • Data security and compliance
  • Study design and analysis of large data sets
  • Integration of data into care improvement efforts
  • Clinical Decision Support