Assistant Professor of Medicine

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics

Doctoral Fellow of Biomedical Informatics

Contact Info:

Research interests

• Adverse Drug Reactions
• Biomedical informatics
• Patient safety
• Medication management
• Process and quality improvement
• Long-term care

Education

• BS (1993; Neuroscience/History & Philosophy of Science) University of Pittsburgh
• MD (1997; Medicine) University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey
• MS (2004; Biomedical Informatics) University of Pittsburgh

Publications

Bonner AF, Castle, NG, Men, A, Handler SM. Certified Nursing Assistants’ Perceptions of Nursing Home Patient Safety Culture: Is There a Relationship to Clinical or Workforce Outcomes? Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. (in press).

Shirts BH, Perera S, Hanlon JT, Roumani YF, Studenski SA, Becich MJ, Handler SM. Provider management of and satisfaction with laboratory testing in the nursing home setting: Results of a National Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. (in press).

Hanlon JT, Aspinall SL, Semla T, Weisbord S, Fried L, Good CB, Fine M, Stone R, Pugh MJ, Rossi M, Handler SM. Consensus Guidelines for Oral Dosing of Primarily Renally Cleared Medications in Older Adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. (in press).

Handler SM, Hanlon JT, Perera S, Saul MI, Fridsma DB, Visweswaran S, Studenski SA, Roumani YF, Castle NG, Nace DA, Becich MJ. Assessing the Performance Characteristics of Signals Used by a Clinical Event Monitor to Detect Adverse Drug Reactions in the Nursing Home. Proceedings of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2008:278-282. PMID: 18998853 PMCID: PMC Journal - In process.

Bain KT, Holmes HM, Beers MH, Maio V, Handler SM, Pauker SG. Discontinuing Medications: A Novel Approach for Revising the Prescribing Stage of the Medication-Use Process. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2008:56(10):1946-1952 PMID: 18771457 PMCID: PMC Journal – In process.

Handler SM, Shirts BH, Perera S, Becich MJ, Castle NG, Hanlon JT. Frequency of laboratory monitoring of chronic medications administered to nursing facility residents: results of a national Internet-based study. The Consulant Pharmacist. 2008 May;23(5):387-95. PMID: 18540792 NIHMSID: 79064 PMCID: PMC2597281

Handler SM, Hanlon JT, Perera S, Roumani, YF, Nace DA, Fridsma DB, Saul MI, Castle NG, Studenski SA. Consensus List of Signals to Detect Potential Adverse Drug Reactions in Nursing Homes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2008:56(5):808-815. PMID: 18363678 PMCID: PMC Journal – In process

Bonner AF, Castle NG, Perera S, Handler SM. Patient Safety Culture: A Review of the Nursing Home Literature and Recommendations for Practice. Annals of Long-Term Care: Clinical Care and Aging. 2008;16(3):18-22.

Handler SM, Perera S, Olshansky EF, Studenski SA, Nace DA, Fridsma DB, Hanlon JT. Identifying modifiable barriers to medication error reporting in the nursing home setting. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2007:11(8):568-574. PMID: 17998112 PMCID: PMC2151929

Handler SM, Altman RL, Perera S, Hanlon JT, Studenski SA, Saul MI, Fridsma DB. A Systematic Review of the Performance Characteristics of Clinical Event Monitor Signals Used to Detect Adverse Drug Events in the Hospital Setting. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 2007:14(4):451-458. PMCID: PMC2244905

Nace DA, Hoffman EL, Resnick NM, Handler, SM. Achieving and sustaining high rates of influenza immunization among long-term care staff. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2007:8(2):123-133. PMID: 17289544.

Castle NG, Handler S, Engberg J, Sonon K. Nursing home administrators’ opinions of the resident safety culture in nursing homes. Health Care Management Review. 2007;32(1):66-76. PMID: 17245204

Handler SM, Castle N, Studenski S, Perera S, Fridsma D, Nace D, et al. Patient safety culture assessment in the nursing home. Quality and Safety in Health Care. 2006;15(6):400-404. PMID: 17142586

Handler SM, Wright RM, Ruby CM, Hanlon JT. Epidemiology of medication-related adverse events in nursing homes. The American Journal Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. 2006 4(3): 264-72. PMID: 17062328

Wright R, Handler SM, Ruby C, Hanlon T. Update on drug-related problems in the elderly. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. 2006 4(1): 78-84.

Pugh M, Lindblad C, Hander SM, Hanlon T. Update on drug-related problems in the elderly. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. 2005; 3(3): 205-10.

Zerumsky K, Steinmetz KL, Handler SM, Rodriguez EG. Pharmacist detection of potential peripheral artery disease using a hand-held Doppler. Pharmacotherapy. 2005; 25(6): 797-802. PMID: 15927897

Pasquale DA, Nace DA, Lindblad CI, Handler SM, Hanlon JT. Update on drug-related problems in the elderly. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. 2005; 3(1):50-54.

Handler SM, Nace D, Studenski S, Fridsma D. Medication error reporting in long-term care. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. 2004 2004;2(3):190-196. PMID: 15561651

Handler SM, Hsieh VC, Nace DA, Sciulli L, Fridsma DB, Studenski SA. Development and evaluation of a charge capture program for long-term care providers. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2004;5(5):337-341. PMID: 15357892

Awards

2008 Scholarship to attend mini-course “From Bench Top to Bedside: What every scientist needs to know,” sponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Office of Enterprise Development, for recognizing and developing the commercial potential of MARS-AiDE.

2008 Oral presentation for Best Junior Faculty category abstract “Assessing the Performance Characteristics of Signals Used by a Clinical Event Monitor to Detect Adverse Drug Reactions in the Nursing Home,” presented at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Medicine 6th Annual Research Day.

2008 Best Junior Faculty category poster presentation for “Assessing the Performance Characteristics of Signals Used by a Clinical Event Monitor to Detect Adverse Drug Reactions in the Nursing Home,” presented at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Medicine 6th Annual Research Day.

2008 AHRQ Triggers and Targeted Injury Detection System (TIDS) Expert Panel Meeting

Funding

No grant number       Handler (PI)       7/1/08-6/30/10
Source: National Institute of Health (Federal)
Title: NIH Loan Repayment Program
The goal of this award is for the NIH to pay for educational debt in exchange for a commitment to a research career.
Role: Researcher

No grant number       Handler (PI)       7/1/08-6/31/09
Source: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Title: Assessing the Impact of a Handheld Charge Capture Program on Clinical Revenue in the Long-Term Care Setting
The goal of this grant is to assess the impact of a now third-generation handheld charge capture program for long-term care providers on clinical revenue generation.
Role: Principal Investigator/Software Project Manager

No grant number       Dengenholtz (PI) 1/1/08-12/31/09
Source: The Commonwealth Fund (Private)
Title: Availability and Use of Health Information Technology in Nursing Homes
The goal of this grant is to determine the prevalence and use of health information technology for clinical care processes in the nursing home.
Role: Co-principal Investigator

1-R18-HS017093       Schwarz (PI)       10/1/07-9/30/10
Source: Agency for Healthcare, Research and Quality
Harnessing Health IT to Prevent Medication-Induced Birth Defects
This project will evaluate ways in which computers may be able to help doctors counsel women about how to prevent birth defects that may be caused by use of certain medications during pregnancy.
Role: Co-investigator

5-KL2-RR024154       Kapoor (PI)       7/1/05-6/30/10
Source: National Institute of Health, Roadmap/NCRR/University of Pittsburgh Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Career Development Award (Federal)
Title: Using a Clinical Event Monitor to Detect Adverse Drug Reactions in Long-Term Care
The goal of this grant is to develop a clinical event monitor capable of using laboratory and pharmacy data to detect adverse drug events in the long-term care setting.
Role: Clinical Research Scholar

No contract number       Nace (PI)       12/1/07-12/31/08
Source: Merck Corporation
Title: Rotavirus Burden of Disease in the Institutionalized Elderly
The goal of this contract is to characterize the clinical presentation, severity, and etiology of acute gastroenteritis in institutionalized older adults.
Role: Co-principal Investigator