Homer R. Warner

He died on November 30, 2012, in Salt Lake City from complications of pancreatitis.

Intermountain Healthcare officially opened a new center to support its clinical information systems on February 16, 2011, on the campus of Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Named after Dr. Warner, the Homer Warner Center for Informatics Research honors one of the industry’s recognized fathers of clinical computer systems.

To illustrate his contribution to informatics applied to medicine, on the patent called “Rules-based patient care system for use in healthcare locations” issued on January 1, 2008, the references list includes seven works where he has collaborated.

In 1988, he was elected to senior membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. New members are chosen for major contributions to health and medicine as well as from related fields.

In 1964, Warner and his associates formally taught computer applications to medicine at the University of Utah in the Department of Biophysics and Bioengineering within the School of Engineering. In 1972, the department was divided, and Warner directed one of the two new units: the Department of Medical Biophysics and Computing in the School of Medicine.

Warner served as director of the cardiovascular laboratory at LDS Hospital from 1954 to 1970 and was honored as Physician of the Year in 1985.

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Dr. Warner began his work using computers for decision support in cardiology at LDS Hospital (now Intermountain Healthcare) in Salt Lake City. This ground-breaking work set the stage for the growth of the new field of academic study called medical informatics. In the 1970s, Dr. Warner and his LDS Hospital colleagues created one of the nation’s first versions of an electronic medical record. Designed to assist clinicians in decision-making, Intermountain’s now famous HELP system has been operational for nearly 40 years.

Intermountain has been an industry leader in using computers in the practice of medicine for several decades. Thanks to the hard work and vision of Dr. Homer Warner and his colleagues, Intermountain has an outstanding legacy on which to build all of its future information systems. Beginning in the mid-1950s, Dr. Warner began his work using computers for decision support in cardiology at Intermountain’s LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. In the 1970s, Dr. Warner and his Intermountain colleagues created one of the nation’s first versions of an electronic medical record. Designed to assist clinicians in decision-making, Intermountain’s now famous HELP system has been operational for nearly 40 years.

Warner received his B.S. in 1946 from the University of Utah. He received his M.D., also from the University of Utah, in 1949. By 1953 he had worked at Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and had earned a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Minnesota.

Homer Richards Warner (April 18, 1922 – November 30, 2012) was an American cardiologist who was an early proponent of medical informatics who pioneered many aspects of computer applications to medicine. Author of the book, Computer-Assisted Medical Decision-Making, published in 1979, he served as CIO for the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, as president of the American College of Medical Informatics (where an award has been created in his honor), and was actively involved with the National Institutes of Health. He was first chair of the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah School of Medicine, the first American medical program to formally offer a degree in medical informatics.

He was born in Salt Lake City on April 18, 1922. He joined the United States Navy during World War II and was trained as a pilot but never saw combat.