Dr. David P. Baker, Vice President, Health Practice Research

Dr. David P. Baker is Vice President of IMPAQ's Health Practice Research division. He has twenty years of experience working with a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors. As a Principal Research Scientist, Dr. Baker leads IMPAQ projects on healthcare quality and the role of teamwork in clinical performance. As Vice President, his directly contributes to IMPAQ’s business development activities with both new and existing clients.

Expertise

Dr. Baker is a nationally recognized expert in team performance, training, and measurement, and the critical role teams play in high risk industries like healthcare, the military, and aviation. He has led numerous large, complex projects for both the federal and private sectors. This work has involved conducting national surveys, developing training programs, designing assessment instruments, evaluating program effectiveness, and identifying best practices. He is most recently recognized for his work on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) TeamSTEPPS® program, which has been implemented in healthcare organizations throughout the world (teamstepps.ahrq.gov).

Clients

Dr. Baker’s federal clients have included the AHRQ, TriCARE Management Activity, Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration, US Department of Education, US Navy, and the NASA Ames Research Center. He has also consulted with a number of hospitals within the US and abroad on issues related to teamwork and care delivery. Finally, he has worked extensively with various US airlines on teamwork, simulation-based training, and team performance measurement issues.

Prior Experience

Prior to joining IMPAQ, Dr. Baker was Director of the Heath Services Research Institute at Carilion Clinic, a seven hospital healthcare system in southwest Virginia. He also held appointments as an Associate Professor on the founding faculty of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, as a Principal Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and a Research Psychologist with the US Navy.

Education

Dr. Baker earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 1991. He is a fellow of Division 14 of the American Psychological Association and on the editorial board of Human Factors. He has published and/or presented over 100 papers on his work.