Eva Karp, DHA, RN-BC, FACHE
Eva Karp, senior vice president and chief clinical and patient safety officer, Cerner, is both an experienced nurse and a chief executive at one of the largest healthcare information technology companies in the world, and she uses her influence to advance international patient safety and HIT user experience initiatives as well as health policy changes to advance nursing practice.
Dr. Karp earned her doctorate in health care administration from the Medical University of South Carolina. She has also achieved a master’s degree in business administration, a bachelor’s degree in business management and an associate’s degree in nursing. Prior to joining Cerner, Dr. Karp had more than 16 years of experience in healthcare informatics and 12 years of neurological and surgical ICU clinical experience as a registered nurse. Dr. Karp is board certified in both nursing informatics through the American Nurse Credentialing Center and in healthcare management through the American College of Healthcare Executives as a Fellow.
A Cerner associate since 2001, Dr. Karp quickly established herself as a leader within the organization by improving the implementation methodologies related to automating orders and documentation within the EHR. In 2013, Dr. Karp was promoted to the role of senior vice president, a title currently held by only four other women at Cerner, earning the inaugural title of chief clinical and patient safety officer just two years later. As chief clinical and patient safety officer, she has executive responsibility for defining Cerner's clinical practices to optimize user experience, patient outcomes and organizational execution. Dr. Karp has led several initiatives to advance the effective use of information and technology to support improved patient safety and clinician efficiency.
Outside of Cerner, Dr. Karp is highly engaged in the industry as a champion of leveraging technology to support patient safety and healthcare management through organizations including HIMSS, ACHE and the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), and chairs the EHRA Patient Safety Workgroup. Within ACHE, Dr. Karp is a frequent participant in several ACHE forums including its annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership and regional Cluster events. Dr. Karp also serves as a mentor to at least ten up-and-coming healthcare leaders to support them in also becoming board certified in healthcare management to further their careers in healthcare information technology.
Dr. Karp currently serves as the chair on the board of directors for the Center of Practical Bioethics as well as co-chair of the organization’s governance committee. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Alliance for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (AQIPS), which supports patient safety organizations to share best practices and other information to continuously improve the quality of patient care. Most recently, Dr. Karp co-authored a position paper of the American Nursing Informatics Association titled The Six Domains of Burden: A Conceptual Framework to Address the Burden of Documentation in the Electronic Health Record.
In 2020, HIMSS named Dr. Karp as one of the 2020 Most Influential Woman in Health IT. Also in 2020, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Health Professions (CHP) Alumni Association honored and recognized Dr. Karp for her outstanding contributions to the health professions field by awarding her with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in Health Administration.