Karen is a Strategic Advisor with RTI Health Advance.
Karen Zimmer has over 20 years of business, clinical and health policy experience, and is a national expert in workflow improvement, patient safety and health IT (HIT).
She is the co-founder of a national membership program for patient safety, quality, and risk, which supports 14 US states. Her deep understanding of changing industry dynamics allows her to lead the conceptualization, creation and implementation of innovative technology tools and platforms that meet the needs of end users. Karen has advised leadership at healthcare organizations, technology vendors and early stage HIT companies and delivered improvements to patient care through systematic synthesis of large data sets and building relationships with employees from the C-Suite to the front line.
Karen holds Emeriti Trustee status at Cornell University and serves as Presidential Counselor Advisor. Previously, she served on Cornell’s Board of Trustees (Audit, Cybersecurity and Executive Committees) and as the Director of the Board of Alumni and as a Dean’s Council member for the Cornell Weill Medical Center. Karen is also a member of the medical staff at Nemours, an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University, and serves as an instructor at Jefferson College of Population Health. Earlier roles include Medical Director for the Patient Safety, Risk and Quality Group, the co-founder of the ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization, and Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins.
Karen received her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. She completed a Pediatrics residency at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and a General Academic Pediatrics fellowship at Johns Hopkins, where she also received a Master of Public Health from the Bloomberg School of Population Health. She is board certified in Clinical Informatics and Pediatrics.