UPMC has named John Fairbaugh, M.S.N., R.N.-B.C., to a new role as the system’s chief clinical information officer, effective Dec. 5.
Fairbaugh, currently director of clinical and operational informatics/emergency services at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, will support clinical operations across UPMC’s 40 hospitals and 800 outpatient sites by enhancing technology applications and ensuring that they are meaningful to clinical users. A health care professional with more than 21 years of nursing experience and an extensive background in emergency medicine and informatics, Fairbaugh says, “I’m kind of the translator between the information technology leadership and the clinical leadership.”
A former paramedic, Fairbaugh notes that early in his life he considered a job in information technology but “fell in love with nursing” so he took that path instead, joining UPMC as a nurse in 2002. But after discovering a college program in nursing informatics, he realized that he could combine both of his passions. After completing a master’s degree in nursing informatics at Waynesburg University, he moved into that role at UPMC Shadyside in 2013.
“John is committed to open and strong communication and is inclusive of varying perspectives – critical qualities in ensuring the successful selection, deployment and continuing improvement of our clinical technologies,” said Maribeth McLaughlin, vice president and chief nurse executive of UPMC, who oversees the new CCIO position as part of the UPMC Center for Nursing Excellence.
Fairbaugh will continue his responsibilities at UPMC Magee while a search for his successor is completed
