faculty profile

Kelly Aldrich   DNP, MS, RN-BC, FHIMSS

Director of Innovation
Associate Professor, Informatics Nurse Specialist, Alumnus CCRN

Bio

Dr. Aldrich is a board-certified Informatics Nurse Specialist and has served for over 35 years in clinical, academic, and leadership roles recognized as a senior informatics leader, innovator, and advocate for useful, safe, and effective healthcare transformation. She is an Associate Professor and Director of Informatics Innovation for the Vanderbilt School of Nursing with a secondary appointment in the Department of Biomedical Informatics.    

Dr. Aldrich spent the first twenty years of her career at the bedside in cardiac and trauma critical care settings. Driven by a passion and dedication to create a seamless patient-centered care environments supported by functional technology, she pursued further academic training in informatics and executive leadership. She is the former Chief Clinical Transformation Officer for Center for Medical Interoperability; a non-profit organization led by health systems to simplify and advance data sharing among medical technologies and systems. Prior to that, she served as the invited inaugural Chief Nursing Informatics Officer for HCA Healthcare where she successfully created clinical informatics strategic and tactical roadmaps for implementing meaningful and innovative solutions at scale.  

She is engaged in research and informatics innovation learning models reflective in publications advocating for the unique nurse identifier and Digital RN citizen model. Other publications include Informatics for Nursing documentation standards, her model for Blending Education Leadership and Technology (BELT) for highly reliable technology systems in innovation, Interoperability for Better Care, the ANA Nursing Informatics Scope and Standards of Practice revision and most recently her current work with the CDC on Healthcare Trust Data Platforms demonstrating automation of PPE data in burn and predictive needs for the nation.    

With her background in informatics, technology, and innovation and as a Fellow with HIMSS, Dr. Aldrich proudly represents the nursing perspective on HHS/ONC task forces focused on interoperability experience, standards, and contributes to industry advisory councils including HHS National Cybersecurity Future Gazing, Baxter Healthcare Digital Health, and the ANA Innovation Advisory Committee. Additionally, owns and manages an informatics consulting company.

She received her Master of Science in Healthcare Systems Leadership and Nursing Informatics and Doctor of Nursing from the University of South Florida.    

Education

  • DNP, University of South Florida
  • Masters of Science in Nursing, Informatics & Leadership, University of South Florida
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing, University of South Florida
  • Associate of Science in Nursing, William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, IL  

Certifications

  • Board Certified in Nursing Informatics (ANA/ANCC)

Current Research/Scholarly Interests

  • Interoperability technology, person centered care supported by Trusted modernized architecture infrastructure
  • Unique Nurse Identifiers, creating person centered digital RN citizens
  • Technology gamification and usability

Academic Interests

  • Nursing Informatics, advancing education and adoption of technology
  • Interoperability, clinical informatics infusion
  • Operations planning and transformation, supported by informatics

Current Projects

  • Working within the Center for Medical Interoperability (C4MI), partnering with CDC, NPPTL to develop a trusted monitoring and surveillance system for personal protective equipment (PPE). TOGETHER for PPE Readiness, providing real-time information from hospitals to advance outcomes in preparedness

Representative Publications

Journals

Aldrich, K. (2017). Partner with IT to reduce frustration, improve patient care. Nursing 2017, 47(12), 68-69. DOI: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0000526895.15251.02

Aldrich, K. (2017). Trade your open tickets for interoperability. Nursing Management, 48 (10), 25-26. DOI: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000524822.79652.5b

Stout, C., Short, N., and Aldrich, K. (2015) "Meeting the Future of Nursing Report Recommendations: A Successful Practice-Academic Partnership."  Nursing Economics, 33:3, 161-166 AN: 00006073-201505000-00007

Englebright, J., Aldrich, K., and Taylor, C. (2014) Defining and Incorporating Basic Nursing Care Actions into the Electronic Health Record. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46, 50-57. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12057

Book Chapters

Englebright, J., Aldrich, K (2016). Innovative Technology, Standardization, and the Impact on High Reliability, (187-204).  High Reliability Organizations: A Healthcare Handbook for Patient Safety & Quality.  Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International. ISBN: 9781940446387

Saba, V, Aldrich, K. (2012) Clinical Care Classification (CCC) System (Version 2.5): User?s Guide, Edition 2. Part 5.4. Healthcare Corporation of America Implements CCC Data Elements in Meditech 6.0 Functionality. New York, NY:  Springer Publishing Company. ISBN 9780826109866

Representative Presentations

Aldrich, K. (2019). Connected Medical Devices Cybersecurity Conference: "Interoperability for Better Care", San Francisco, CA, sponsored by Cybersecurity Working Group HealthSectorCouncil  

Aldrich, K. (2019). AORN National Conference, Leadership: "Interoperability for Better Care" Nashville, TN, sponsored by Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses

Aldrich, K. (2018). AORN National Leadership Conference, Keynote speaker: "Interoperability for Better Care" Denver, CO, sponsored by Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses

Aldrich, K. (2018). ANIA National Conference, "Interoperability for Better Care" Orlando, FL sponsored by American Nursing Informatics Association

Aldrich, K. (2017). ANIA webinar, "Interoperability for Better Care" sponsored by American Nursing Informatics Association 

Aldrich, K. (2017). Healthcare Information Conference, Keynote speaker: "Interoperability for Better Care" Nashville, TN, sponsored by LifePoint Health, Inc

Aldrich, K. (2017). HIMSS National Conference, Nursing Informatics Symposium speaker: "Using Innovation to improve Interoperability" Orlando, FL sponsored by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

Aldrich, K. (2017). Healthy Tennessee / Vanderbilt School of Nursing Summit: "Interoperability for Better Care" Nashville, TN, sponsored by Vanderbilt School of Nursing

Aldrich, K. (2017). MTONE "Interoperability for Better Care" sponsored by Middle Tennessee Organization of Nurse Executives

Aldrich, K. (2016). "Merging Data: From Medical to Mobile" Houston Texas, sponsored by Rice Graduate School of Business

Aldrich, K. (2016). CNIO forum Conference, "Interoperability improving Care" Phoenix, AZ sponsored by The Health Management Academy  

Aldrich, K. (2015). "How About Data Analytics: Harnessing the Power of Data" 25th Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics, Baltimore, MD sponsored by University of Maryland School of Nursing  

Aldrich, K. (2015). "The Future of HCA Nursing, Nursing Informatics Strategy", Scottsdale, AZ sponsored by Hospital Corporation of America  

Reviewer

  • NLN: National League for Nursing, Center for Innovation in Education Excellence TEQ Blog peer reviewer 2020 January-December

Professional Organizations

  • American Nurses Association, ANA current member
  • American Nursing Informatics Association, ANIA current member
  • Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, Inc. (HIMSS), current member
  • HSCC Joint Cybersecurity Working Group: Clinical Future Gazing workgroup 2018-present
  • Big Data Science Group: Engage and Equip Nurses in Health IT Policy, 2017 - present

Honors/Awards

  • Dean?s Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Informatics Endeavors, 2021
  • Fellow, Healthcare Information and Management System Society (FHIMSS)
  • Alumnus Critical Care Registered Nurse, CCRN

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