David Barnes

David Barnes began his UT Southwestern career as a Medical Technologist. Thirty-five years later, he’s now one of the go-to people when help is needed to navigate Epic electronic health records.

“I focus on providing Epic support for the laboratory, and I also help maintain rules that process orders post-signing,” Mr. Barnes says. “The stimulating work environment at UT Southwestern has allowed me to work on challenging projects, and to collaborate with gifted and imaginative co-workers.”

When inpatient computerized physician order entry was implemented, Mr. Barnes joined the Epic team. Since then, he says, Epic has become progressively more sophisticated, focusing on tools that assist clinician decision-making, make electronic data entry and ordering easier, meet complex governmental reporting requirements, enable patient-focused workflows, and provide the best possible health care.

Over UT Southwestern’s next 75 years, he envisions health care will be delivered in an even more comprehensive and encompassing fashion. “The patient’s direct contact with UT Southwestern and other health care providers will change. But with that will be the assurance that the patient is receiving the best and most appropriate care in the context of their electronic health record,” he predicts.

Mr. Barnes, who earned an undergraduate degree in biology at Iowa State University, is a graduate of the former St. Paul University Hospital's School of Medical Technology. His hobbies include studying medieval history and collecting pulp magazines from the 1920s-1940s. He and his wife, Mary, have four cats: Hercule, Boudica, Digby, and Cugel.