Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health

Phone:

(317) 278-3072

Email:

bedixon@regenstrief.org

Departments:

Epidemiology

Global Health

Additional Appointments:

Interim Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute

Director of Public Health Informatics, Regenstrief Institute

Health Research Scientist, Center for Health Information and Communication, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D) Service, Roudebush VA Medical Center

Adjunct Professor in Health Informatics, Department of BioHealth Informatics, Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing

Faculty Fellow, Center for Health Policy, FSPH

Degrees:

MPA, Public Management, Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs

PhD, Health Informatics, Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing

Resume/CV

Biography

Dr. Dixon serves as the director of Public Health Informatics and research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics. He is also professor of epidemiology at the Indiana University (IU) Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. In addition, Dr. Dixon serves as an Investigator in Residence at the Center on Health Information and Communication, which is part of the Health Services Research & Development Service at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Dr. Dixon’s research focuses on applying informatics methods and solutions to improve population health in clinical as well as public health organizations. Leveraging large-scale clinical and administrative data from information systems, Dr. Dixon engineers solutions to measure population health, better understand the determinants of health, optimize information and work flow, enhance surveillance of disease and injury, and improve outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. Dr. Dixon teaches informatics courses to future clinical as well as public health leaders, and he regularly mentors junior faculty and researchers in informatics, public health, and health services.

Dr. Dixon has published over 140 peer-reviewed articles in highly respected journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), Pediatrics, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, Journal of Medical Internet Research, American Journal of Preventative Medicine, Public Health Reports, Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, and Journal of Biomedical Informatics. He is further the editor of three highly acclaimed books: Clinical Informatics Study Guide: Text and Review (2nd Edition), Health Information Exchange: Navigating and Managing a Network of Health Information Systems (2nd Edition), and Public Health Informatics and Information Systems (3rd Edition).

Dr. Dixon is a Fellow within the prestigious American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI). He is also a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) and the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Dr. Dixon’s work on the COVID-19 pandemic was recognized with the Health Services Research (HSR) Impact Award from AcademyHealth in 2021 and a One Regenstrief Award in 2022. In 2018, Dr. Dixon was named a Research Frontiers Trailblazer by IUPUI. Previously, Dr. Dixon was recognized as a Forty Under 40 recipient by the Indianapolis Business Journal and Outstanding Investigator by the Regenstrief Institute’s Center for Biomedical Informatics. He has also been recognized for his mentorship of others by College Mentors for Kids.

Before joining the faculty at Indiana University, Dr. Dixon managed research and development projects for Regenstrief and the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Dr. Dixon also developed health information applications and systems, including tools supporting the standard clinical vocabulary LOINC®, technology supporting the automated reporting of notifiable conditions to public health agencies, and tools for querying large clinical data repositories.

Dr. Dixon earned his Bachelor of Arts in computer science from DePauw University; his Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University; and his Doctor of Philosophy in Health Informatics from Indiana University.

Research Interests

Dr. Dixon’s research focuses on applying informatics methods and tools to improve population health in clinical as well as public health organizations. His work leverages clinical and administrative data in electronic health records to improve population outcomes, better understand threats to public health as well as care delivery processes, examine public health business processes, and make population surveillance more efficient. Dr. Dixon’s research also involves the design, implementation, and evaluation of information infrastructures as well as data quality in support of continuous use of electronic data.

Courses Taught

As a faculty member in IU’s Fairbanks School of Public Health, Dr. Dixon teaches courses on informatics as well as health information exchange to future leaders in clinical and public health.

Dr. Dixon teaches the following courses:

• Foundations of Public Health Informatics (PBHL-E635)
• Health Information Exchange for Population Health (PBHL-E645)
• Leadership Challenges in Global Health Informatics (PBHL-H763)

Selected Publications

• Dixon BE, Dearth S, Duszynski TJ, Grannis SJ. Dashboards Are Trendy, Visible Components of Data Management in Public Health: Sustaining Their Use After the Pandemic Requires a Broader View. American Journal of Public Health. 2022 Jun;112(6):900-903.
  
  
• Ferdinands JM, Rao S, Dixon BE, et al. Waning 2-Dose and 3-Dose Effectiveness of mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19–Associated Emergency Department and Urgent Care Encounters and Hospitalizations Among Adults During Periods of Delta and Omicron Variant Predominance — VISION Network, 10 States, August 2021–January 2022. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2022 Feb 18;71(7):255-263.
  
  
• Dixon BE, Judon KM, Schwartzkopf AL, Guerrero VM, Koufacos NS, May J, Schubert CC, Boockvar KS. Impact of event notification services on timely follow-up and rehospitalization among primary care patients at two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2021;28(12):2593-600.
  
  
• Dixon BE, Mukherjee S, Wiensch A, Gray ML, Ferres JML, Grannis SJ. Capturing COVID-like Symptoms At-Scale using Banner Ads: A Novel Survey Methodology Pilot using an Online News Platform. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2021;23(5):e24742.
  
  
• Dixon BE, Wools-Kaloustian KK, Fadel WF, Duszynski TJ, Yiannoutsos C, Halverson PK, et al. Symptoms and symptom clusters associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in community-based populations: Results from a statewide epidemiological study. PloS One. 2021;16(3):e0241875.
  
  
• Rahurkar S, Vest JR, Finnell JT, Dixon BE. Trends in user-initiated health information exchange in the inpatient, outpatient, and emergency settings. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2021;28(3):622-7.
  
  
• Dixon BE, Caine V, Halverson PK. Deficient response to COVID-19 makes the case for evolving the public health system. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. 2020. 2020;59(6):887-91.
  
  
• Dixon BE, Zhang Z, Arno JN, Revere D, Joseph Gibson P, Grannis SJ. Improving Notifiable Disease Case Reporting Through Electronic Information Exchange–Facilitated Decision Support: A Controlled Before-and-After Trial. Public Health Reports. 2020;135(3):401-10.