Dr. Michelle Robinson

Dr. Michelle Robinson appointed Associate Dean for Health Information and Business Systems

Approximately $90 billion was spent by providers in 2010 on developing and implementing electronic health records, health information exchanges and other initiatives. The increase in health information technology spending has been boosted by new government regulations and third party payers requiring tight deadlines. This surge is a sign of technology’s critical place in health systems and the ever increasing role technology will have in the future of dental care and the operation of the dental school clinical enterprise. As such, the School of Dentistry needs to take a forward-thinking approach to health information and business systems, featuring integrated clinical and financial applications including billing and clinical tools to manage long-term care of our patients.

If we are going to achieve this we need to have a point person with the skills, knowledge, enthusiasm and stamina to lead the school forward. Of course if you want a difficult job done, give it to someone who's already busy. So given the task at hand it is my pleasure to announce that Dr. Michelle Robinson will assume the role of Associate Dean for Health Information and Business Systems. As a School and a University we are lucky to have Michelle and I am personally grateful that she is reluctantly willing to take on this vital role.

Thanks, Mike

Dr. Robinson is Associate Professor in General Dental Sciences and the new Associate Dean for Health Information and Business Systems at the UAB School of Dentistry. Her dental career has included practice, teaching, consulting, outreach programs, and working extensively with computer and communications technologies. Dr. Robinson is a graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and has a master’s degree in medical informatics from Columbia University in New York where she was the first dental graduate of their NIH-funded program.

Other certifications include:

  • Special Patient Care
  • Information Technology Project Management
  • Online Education

Honors include:

  • International Women of Color in Health, Science, and Technology “Most Promising Healthcare Professional Award”, 2002
  • National Dental Association Faculty Award for Research, 2007
  • ADEA/GlaxoSmithKline/Jeanne Sinkford Scholar Award, 2008
  • OKU Dental Honor Society
  • American College of Dentists and International College of Dentists Fellow

National Positions held include:

  • Chair of the Dental Informatics Working Group of the American Medical Informatics Association
  • Chair of the Dental Informatics Section of the American Dental Education Association Research Interests include:
  • Dental Informatics
  • Electronic dental records
  • Customizing health communication with computer technology
  • Workflow analysis
  • Educational software and digital instructional modalities

Throughout her career, Dr. Robinson has served as Principal Investigator, Investigator, or Technology Consultant on over $20 million in grant funding. Her ambitions in advancing the reach and scope of informatics have led to dozens of presentations and consultancies with dental offices, institutional programs, health care systems, and non-profit organizations and foundations throughout the US and Europe. She has also served as reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals and grant programs. A strong believer in community service, Dr. Robinson has been an active participant in school and community dental awareness programs and has held positions which gave her the opportunity to serve as a mentor to young women and students from disadvantaged backgrounds.