Meet Our Faculty

Michael Cui, MD, MS is a practicing primary care doctor and physician informaticist. He completed his medical school, internal medicine residency, and clinical informatics fellowship from the University of Chicago. He believes that better workflows and technology implementation can help healthcare systems achieve the triple aim of improving healthcare quality, improving healthcare experience, and decreasing healthcare costs. He is passionate about patient engagement, digital health, and entrepreneurship.

Examples of Cui’s work include creating standardized breast cancer screening/diagnostic pathway in conjunction with radiology, developing the workflow for a virtual scribe program at RUSH, improving health maintenance outreach for patients, capturing more hierarchical coding categories in patients who are part of our value based care programs and piloting a remote patient monitoring program. Additionally, Cui is leading a collaboration between the American Medical Association and RUSH and coordinating multiple other RUSH initiatives to help improve blood pressure control in patients with hypertension and is part of the West Side United Hypertension Workgroup

Informatics Focus

• Workflow standardization and optimization
• Quality improvement
• Patient engagement/outreach

• Ravindra L, Cui M, Holmes M. Refining and optimizing scheduled video visits after rapid expansion. Epic XGM 2021 Conference, Physicians Advisory Council oral presentation. 3 May 2021.​
• Ravindra L, Cui M, Attar W, Houston M, Rice J, Hussain S, Dale, J. Improving physician engagement in the electronic medical record. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation. Virtual conference. 23 April 2021.​
• Cui M, Ravindra L, Holmes M, Dale J. Physician Impression of Telemedicine During Coronavirus Pandemic at a Tertiary Care Center. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation. Virtual conference. 23 April 2021.
• Cui M, Meherally N, Bansal N, Rice J, Damjanovic M, Woods J, Shultz A, Patel K, Hanak M. Increasing Hierarchical Condition Coding (HCC) in Primary Care. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation. Virtual conference. 23 April 2021.
• Cui, M, Zimmerman, L., & Chokshi, S. (2020). 4259 Application of Design Sprint Methodology to Prototype a Proactive Outreach Tool for COPD Patients. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 4(S1), 3-3. doi:10.1017/cts.2020.55
• CUI, MICHAEL & NATHAN, AVIVA & MILES, CRISTY & Press, Valerie & PUSINELLI, MARIKO & ZHU, MENGQI & ALI, RABIA & SCALES, KAMILAH & Huang, Elbert. (2020). 149-LB: Reluctant to Lose Control: Older Patients’ A1C Goals Lower than ADA Guidelines. Diabetes. 69. 149-LB. 10.2337/db20-149-LB.
• Cui M, Scheidemantle B, Raclin T (2019). First Impression: Resident to Resident Feedback. AMIA Clinical Informatics Conference; Atlanta GA
• Cui M, Patel P, Reiser I, Chung J (2019). Decreasing Inappropriate STAT Image Ordering. AMIA Clinical Informatics Conference; Atlanta GA
• Cui M, Rojas J, Cerasale M, Schram A, Chivu A (2018). Virtual Multidisciplinary Rounds: An Electronic Discharge Communication Tool. AMIA Annual Symposium; San Francisco CA
• Chivu A, Cui M, Rojas J, Cerasale M, Schram A (2018). Virtual Multidisciplinary Rounds: An Electronic Medical Record Based Discharge Communication Tool. Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference; Orlando FL
• Schram A, Cerasale M, Rojas J, Cui M, Chivu A (2018). Diagnosing Discharge Barriers with a Virtual Multidisciplinary Rounding Tool. Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference; Orlando FL

Michael J. Barbee, MD joined RUSH in 2012 and is a practicing physician in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine. Michael developed and interest in informatics at a time when there was increasing recognition of the negative impact of alert fatigue and poor workflow design on provider efficiency and overall satisfaction with EHR use. Today, Michael oversees a multitude of clinical decision support and order set design projects aimed at aligning with performance improvement goals, standardization of care and improving patient safety. In addition, he helps support a broad range of inpatient projects that impact provider documentation, orders workflows, patient flow/analysis and discharge planning.

Informatics Focus

• Inpatient Clinical Decision Support
• Inpatient Order Sets
• Inpatient EHR Workflow Design/Optimization (Quality/Performance Improvement, Patient Safety)

• Reset of Clinical Documentation for the EHR Era. 01-01-2019, Epic XGM 2019 Meeting, Session Presentation
• Optimizing the LACE Score to Predict Readmissions. 01-01-2015, Epic XGM 2015 Meeting, Session Presentation
• An Integrated Approach to Reducing CLABSIs. 01-01-2014, Epic UGM 2014 Meeting, Session Presentation
• Integrated clinical decision support focused on early recognition and standardized treatment of sepsis. 01-01-2016

Paul E. Casey, MD has served as chief medical officer of RUSH University Medical Center since June 2019. He is also a practicing physician and associate professor of Emergency Medicine. As chief medical officer, Casey is responsible for the design, implementation and oversight of the Medical Center’s clinical quality, patient safety and performance improvement initiatives. Casey was instrumental in spearheading RUSH’s nationally lauded COVID-19 response strategy, rapidly mobilizing RUSH for the treatment and testing of patients. As the physician director of RUSH’s COVID-19 Hospital Incident Command Center, he oversees clinical preparations for novel 2019 coronavirus cases and manages ongoing clinical operations related to the pandemic. He previously was the Medical Center’s associate chief medical officer and senior patient safety officer and vice chairperson of operations in the RUSH Department of Emergency Medicine and an Associate Chief Medical Information Officer.

Casey joined RUSH in 2010 as an emergency room attending physician, earned his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed his residency in both emergency and internal medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center. He is board certified in emergency medicine, internal medicine and medical informatics. He recently completed an MBA at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

• Hota, B. Casey, P., et al.: Development of a standards-based city-wide health information exchange for public health in response to COVID-19. JMIR. (preprint submitted)
• Casey, P, et al. AAMC COVID-19 Operational Guidance Compendium for Hospitals and Health Systems, May 22, 2020
• Casey, P., Shah, M. “Rehabilitating Documentation for Evidence-Based Management of Management of Chest Pain” presentation.  Epic UGM, August 26, 2019; Verona, WI.
• Casey, P., et al.  “From AI to BI to ROI: Planning for AI Enterprise Use in Healthcare” expert panel discussion. AIMed Conference, December 14, 2018; Laguna Nigel, CA.
• Casey, P., et al. “Predicting Patients at Risk for Leaving Without Being Seen (LWBS) using Machine Learning” plenary presentation. American College of Emergency Physicians Scientific Assembly, October 2^nd, 2018; San Diego, CA.
• Casey, P. “Using Electronic Handoff to Fast-Track Admissions” presentation.  Epic XGM, May 2^nd, 2018; Verona, WI.
• Casey, P., Patty, B.  “Deus Ex Machina: Emerging Technological Solutions - Thinking Outside the Box: Telemedicine’s Potential for Improving ED Overcrowding” lecture. UHC & RUSH Emergency Department Patient Experience Conference: Lessons of Best Practices & Preparing for CMS’ EDPEC Survey, September 25^th, 2015; Chicago, IL.

Media Contributions (Informatics)

• Abelson, R. Doctors and Patients Turn to Telemedicine in the Coronavirus Outbreak. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/health/telemedicine-coronavirus.html  Published March 11, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2020.  
• Adrienna Diaz, CBS National Evening News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZx2SpeGXMs. Aired March 5, 2020

As chair of the quality committee for the medical group, Dr. Hanak has led efforts to achieve nationally ranked performance in key areas of clinical quality. He is board certified in clinical informatics and currently serves as Associate Chief Medical Officer for Population Health, leading a number of projects supporting health equity and value-based care. 

Dr. Hanak is also the current President of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians.

Informatics Focus

• Represent interests of the clinicians practicing in the medical center as neighborhood medical director for RUSH Health, our system’s Clinically Integrated Network
• Founding medical director of the RUSH Center for Preoperative Care
• Principal investigator on a $1.8M Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative
• Led efforts to achieve top-decile performance nationally in the areas of hypertension, diabetes, and breast cancer screening across the ambulatory enterprise
• Chaired the RUSH Opioid Reduction Task Force

• Hanak M, Kirsch R. “The Two Minute Annual Wellness Visit.” Vizient Connections Education Summit. Las Vegas, Nevada.  September 2020.
• Landi, H. “Putting Social Determinants of Health Data Into Action.”  Healthcare Informatics (Sept, 2018). https://www.healthcare-informatics.com/article/analytics/putting-social-determinants-health-data-action
• Hanak, M “The Numbers Tell a Story: How to Use Data to Achieve Health Equity.”  Institute for Healthcare Improvement (March, 2018).  https://www.ihi.org/insights/numbers-tell-story-how-use-data-achieve-health-equity
• Heikkinen B, Won S, Hanak M, et al.  “Expansion of An Antimicrobial Stewardship Program to the Outpatient Setting: A Focus on Respiratory and Urinary Tract Infections.”  Great Lakes Pharmacy Conference.  West Lafayette, Indiana.  April 24, 2018.
• Hanak M, McDevitt C, Dunham D.  “Perceptions of Ambulatory Workflow Changes in an Academic Primary Care Setting.”  The Health Care Manager, Vol 36 (3), 2017.

Melissa P. Holmes, MD is a primary care pediatrician and serves as one of the associate chief medical informatics officers within the Rush System for Health.  She is board certified in pediatrics and medical informatics.  Dr. Holmes has interests in using information technology to engage patients and improve their experience in care.  She also is dedicated to helping leverage clinical decision support tools and provider workflow optimization to improve the efficiencies of clinicians to make the practice of medicine more enjoyable for providers.  She has an interest in analytics and its application to our youngest patient population.   Dr. Holmes is an advocate for working through the complexities of the EHR and its unique role in the care of children and adolescents.  She is an advocate for expanded use of telehealth and has been a key driver in RUSH’s expansion of telehealth services.  Dr. Holmes is excited to help grow RUSH’s Clinical Informatics Fellowship and work with our fellows as we continue to strive to use health informatics technology to transform patient care, population health, and clinicians’ everyday medical practice. 

Dr. Holmes has helped expand our screening and clinical decision support tools for addressing, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Peripartum Mood Disorders, and Childhood Developmental Disorders.    

Informatics Focus

• Pediatrics
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Social Determinants of Health
• Clinical decision support tools
• Workflow optimization
• AI and virtual scribing

• Cui M, Holmes M, Ravindra R.  Refining and Optimizing Scheduled Video Visits After Rapid Expansion.  Epic XGM 2021, Verona, WI.  May 3, 2021.
• Holmes M, Ravindra L, Shah M.  Urgent Care Victories: Virtual and in 25 Minutes or Less.  Epic XGM 2021, Verona, WI.  April 26, 2021.
• Dale J, Barbee M, Vasquez I, Holmes M. Reset of Clinical Documentation for the EHR Era. Epic XGM 2019, Verona, WI. May 6, 2019

Media Contributions (Informatics)

• Interviewed by Modern Healthcare. Building a Better Patient Portal. Author Rachel Z. Arndt. November 24, 2018. 

Lisa Ravindra, MD, FACP is an assistant professor of medicine, a board-certified internal medicine physician, and physician informaticist at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago. Her primary care practice focuses on preventive care, women’s health, and management of chronic conditions. As an informaticist, she has been instrumental in the development the virtual care program at RUSH. She has also been interviewed by local and national news organizations on various healthcare topics, and has had op-ed pieces published in national outlets, such as US News, The Hill, and Ms. Magazine. Dr. Ravindra completed her Internal Medicine residency at Loyola University Medical Center and University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Informatics Focus

• Ambulatory care medicine
• Health maintenance outreach
• Telehealth
• Women’s health
• Electronic prescribing of controlled substances
• Super user program

• Ravindra L, Cui M, Holmes M. Refining and optimizing scheduled video visits after rapid expansion. Epic XGM 2021 Conference, Physicians Advisory Council oral presentation. 3 May 2021.
• Shah M, Holmes M, Ravindra L. Urgent Care Victories…Virtually and in 25 minutes or Less. Epic XGM 2021 Conference, Physicians Advisory Council recorded oral video presentation. 3 May 2021.
• Ravindra L, Cui M, Attar W, Houston M, Rice J, Hussain S, Dale, J. Improving physician engagement in the electronic medical record. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation. Virtual conference. 23 April 2021.
• Cui M, Ravindra L, Holmes M, Dale J. Physician Impression of Telemedicine During Coronavirus Pandemic at a Tertiary Care Center. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation. Virtual conference. 23 April 2021.
• Ravindra L, Hughes, K. Keeping up the times: implementing video visits in primary care. Society of General Internal Medicine Midwest Meeting oral presentation, Minneapolis, MN. 20 September 2019.
• Ravindra L, Hughes, K. Video visits in primary care: a feasible and convenient addition to traditional care. Society of General Internal Medicine National Meeting poster presentation, Washington, DC. 8 May 2019.

Media Contributions (Informatics)

• From COVID-19 to colorectal cancer, telehealth has changed how we look at preventive care. Healio. 13 April 2021.
• 4 Things to Know About Telehealth. RUSH Stories. 3 February 2021.
• Proposed HIPAA Changes Promise to Improve Health Care Delivery (Interview on EHR and sharing patient information). Renal & Urology News. 12 January 2021.
• Preventive care still on during COVID-19. ACP Internist. November/December 2020.
• Getting used to seeing your doctor virtually? Telehealth coverage might not last. Chicago Tribune Sunday Business section front page in print and online. 11 October 2020.
• Interview on virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fox32 Chicago. 7 April 2020.
• Telemedicine helps system absorb caseload while fighting coronavirus. Chicago Sun Times in print and online. 29 March 2020.
• A New Kind of House Call”. RUSH Generations Newsletter. 1 April 2019.

Meeta Shah, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and has experience at both community and academic Emergency Departments. Her focus began with assisting in information services related efforts for the medical staff and advocating for struggling physicians to get help for pain points related to the electronic health record (EHR). Most notably, Dr. Shah was integral in the operational launch of the RUSH On Demand video platform, a virtual urgent care that went live in 2019. This platform was pivotal in caring for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In parallel to her role as an ACMIO, she has a faculty position with the RUSH Medical College as a Clinician Educator for the pre-clinical curriculum.  Beyond technology and education, she advocates on mental health issues that impact physicians, closing healthcare disparities and improving standards of care for our patients who lack reliable shelter, serving as the medical director of RUSH’s street medicine program.

Informatics Focus

• Emergency medicine
• Virtual Care
• Access
• Provider engagement and support
• Communications
• Academics

• Patel KA, Sexton A, Shah M, Hexom B, Gottlieb M. More Than Meets the Eye: Addressing the Role of Telemedicine in Resident Education. Ann Emerg Med. 2021 Mar 26:S0196-0644(21)00067-6. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.01.018. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33781605.
• Letters: Telehealth benefits patients and doctors, even during nonpandemic times. https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/letters/ct-letters-vp-071420-20200713-oojksiaijfer5moxi25t3ipgnq-story.html. The Chicago Tribune. Published July 14, 2020. Accessed July 14, 2020.
• Adams S., Shah M, Hexom B. Telemedicine Comes of Age in the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://www.acepnow.com/article/telemedicine-comes-of-age-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/. ACEPNow. Published June 16, 2020. Accessed July 14, 2020.
• Shah M, Tosto A. Industry Voices—How Rush University Medical Center's virtual investments became central to its COVID-19 response. https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/hospitals-health-systems/industry-voices-how-rush-university-system-for-health-s-virtual. Fierce Healthcare Blog. Published April 13, 2020. Access April 25, 2020

Media Contributions (Informatics)

• Chicago Sun-Times, Brett Chase. Video visits, drive-up services, mobile apps: The new normal of seeing a doctor. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/8/19/21359033/health-care-telehealth-video-doctor-visits-university-chicago-coronavirus-pandemic. August 19, 2020
• CNN, Ryan Young. Healthcare workers at Rush University Medical Center Emergency Department during Coronavirus pandemic. Aired April 4, 2020
• Schroeder, M.O. When and How to Incorporate Telehealth With the Coronavirus. https://health.usnews.com/conditions/articles/using-telemedicine-and-teletherapy-with-covid-19-circulating  Circulating. Published March 27, 2020, Accessed April 4, 2020
• Abelson, R. Doctors and Patients Turn to Telemedicine in the Coronavirus Outbreak. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/health/telemedicine-coronavirus.html  Published March 11, 2020. Accessed April 4, 2020.
• CNN, Ryan Young. Use of telemedicine in the Coronavirus pandemic. https://app.frame.io/presentations/af4dd507-40db-4cd7-ad46-171d81566e16  Aired March 2020.
• Adrienna Diaz, CBS National Evening News. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZx2SpeGXMs. Aired March 5, 2020
• ABC7 News Chicago, Evelyn Holmes. Rush Medical Center Debuts Virtual Visits for Coronavirus Symptoms. https://abc7chicago.com/5981411/. Aired March 3, 2020