Health Informatics Director Receives State Award

The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services has named John Richey one of the 2012 Prevention Innovators of the Year. Richey is the director of UF’s health informatics program and received the award for his work on developing a database related to substance abuse trends.
Nominated by the Hancock County ADAMHS Board and the Community Partnership, Richey worked extensively with the Hancock County Opiate/Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force to develop the database that can be used to support decisions about local prevention and education programs. The Task Force has already utilized Richey’s work for public awareness presentations, educational programs and grant writing.
Referring to the database in Richey’s nomination, Precia Stuby, executive director of the ADAMHS Board, wrote, “It has been very effective to include local information. This information can and will continue to be a vital part of the prevention efforts in Hancock County. Having a database that could be used to gather and house information such as arrest records, deaths, hospital visits and more has proved to be very helpful for the Hancock County Opiate/Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force.”
Students in the health informatics program helped with the development of the database. The project has been added to Richey’s class as an extra credit project, which will enable students to participate in the ongoing development of the database.
Offered as a graduate program in the College of Health Professions, health informatics is the study of resources and methods for the management of health information. It involves systems such as electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical records (EMR).