David Bates (born June 5, 1957) is an American physician, biomedical informatician, and professor, known for his work regarding the use of health information technology (HIT) to improve the safety and quality of healthcare, in particular by using clinical decision support.

[4][5] David Westfall Bates was born on June 5, 1957, in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, although he grew up in Tucson, Arizona.

From 1988 to 1990, Bates did a fellowship in general internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was appointed chief innovation officer in October 2014 to 2016, and he directs the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice there.

[1] He served as the external program lead for research in the World Health Organization's Alliance for Patient Safety from 2006-2015 and was a member of the U.S.'s HIT Policy Committee through 2016.