Skip to main content
Missing Headshot

Erik Van Eaton, MD, FACS

  • Associate Professor
  • Adjunct
  • BHI

vane@uw.edu

Interests:

Enhancing clinical information systems for communication and handoffs; integrating research and registry informatics to clinical care; improving technology for bedside clinical use.

Background:

An Alaskan commercial fisherman who obtained an M.D. from the University of Washington in 2001. During residency training in General Surgery in 2002, started working on applied clinical informatics projects for inpatient care. Completed an NLM Biomedical Informatics fellowship in 2005. Began clinical practice in trauma surgery, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care in 2009 at the University of Washington Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center.

Research:

a) Co-PI for UW-funded project to develop clinical informatics system for better capture of near misses and adverse events by clinical teams, b) Co-investigator on NIH-funded research project leveraging technology and psychiatric interventions for trauma patients at risk for post-injury PTSD, depression and other psychiatric comorbidity.

Other Roles:

Member of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Informatics. Clinical Design Strategist for TransformativeMed Inc, a medical software spin-out company that is commercializing licensed biomedical informatics technology developed at the University of Washington.

Representative publications:

  • Zatzick DF, Russo J, Darnell D, Chambers DA, Palinkas L, Van Eaton E, Wang J, Ingraham LM, Guiney R, Heagerty P, Comstock B, Whiteside LK, Jurkovich G. An effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial study protocol targeting posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbidity. Implement Sci. 2016 Apr 30;11(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s13012-016-0424-4. PubMed PMID: 27130272.
  • Zatzick D, O’Connor SS, Russo J, Wang J, Bush N, Love J, Peterson R, Ingraham L, Darnell D, Whiteside L, Van Eaton E. Technology-Enhanced Stepped Collaborative Care Targeting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbidity After Injury: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Trauma Stress. 2015 Oct;28(5):391-400. doi: 10.1002/jts.22041. PubMed PMID: 26467327.
  • Van Eaton EG, Zatzick DF, Gallagher TH, Tarczy-Hornoch P, Rivara FP, Flum DR, Peterson R, Maier RV. A Nationwide Survey of Trauma Center Information Technology Leverage Capacity for Mental Health Comorbidity Screening. J Am Coll Surg. 2014 Sep;219(3):505-10.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2014.02.032. PubMed PMID: 25151344.
  • Capurro D, Yetisgen M, Van Eaton E, Black R, Tarczy-Hornoch P. Availability of Structured and Unstructured Clinical Data for Comparative Effectiveness Research and Quality Improvement: A Multi-Site Assessment. eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes). 2014 Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 11. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13063/2327-9214.1079. Available at: http://repository.academyhealth.org/egems/vol2/iss1/11.
  • Devine EB, Capurro D, Van Eaton E, Alfonso-Cristancho R, Devlin A, Yanez ND, Yetisgen-Yildiz M, Flum DR, Tarczy-Hornoch P; and CERTAIN Collaborative. Preparing Electronic Clinical Data for Quality Improvement and Comparative Effectiveness Research: The SCOAP CERTAIN Automation and Validation Project. eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes). 2013 Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 16. doi: 10.13063/2327-9214.1025. Available at: http://repository.academyhealth.org/egems/vol1/iss1/16.