Faculty Q & A
Stasia Kahn, M.D. 
As cofounder of Fox Prairie Medical Group in St. Charles, Illinois, Stasia Kahn was an early adopter of health care information technology. She plays a leadership role in two organizations that promote the use of medical informatics in health care Northern Illinois Physicians For Connectivity (NIPFC) and Community Health Record of Illinois (CHRI).
Q: Between your practice in internal medicine and your leadership in CHRI and NIPFC, you're very busy. Why take on teaching?
SK: I see teaching in the MMI program as a way to positively influence the workforce; We need more people with training in medical informatics. It's also fun to teach at SCS. My students have varied backgrounds - clinicians, administrators, IT professionals - and they learn from one another. Q:
You moved from a paper-based practice to an EMR (Electronic Medical Records) system. Why ditch paper?
SK: We don't need a medical
records department, which saves space and spares personnel.
We don't use a transcription service; our practitioners enter
information directly, which makes for more accurate information.
Every communication is documented - and legible. Q:
How do you teach a subject like medical informatics?
SK: I brought my laptop
to one class to demonstrate how a provider enters data from
a patient into an EMR. To highlight the difference between
using a test patient [with invented data] and a real patient,
I accessed remotely the records of a consenting patient.
When you're evaluating technology, real examples give a better
understanding of the product. Q:
What are your goals as a teacher?
SK: One thing I teach is
the importance of standards in health care information. For
example, I am able to demonstrate my use of the continuity
of care record, which helps disparate providers share information.
Most important, I want my students to see the big picture.
People tend to see health care informatics as split between
private practitioners and institutions like hospitals. I
want to show that they can all work together.
David Liebovitz, M.D. 
Before medical school, David Liebovitz majored in electrical engineering. He's made good use of that hybrid background as chief medical informatics officer for the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, medical director for clinical information systems at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and director of the MMI program at SCS. He also sees patients in his clinical practice in internal medicine, supervises residents, and conducts research on the use of electronic information systems.
Q: How can medical informatics revolutionize
patient care?
DL: Let's say a physician
sees a new patient who's already received five or six diagnoses
and is on nine different
medications. It's beyond the ability of any physician
to manage that much information during a 20-minute visit.
Medical informatics facilitates and guides medical decision
making, increasing the probability of safe and effective
care. Tens of thousands of people die from medical errors
every year; those are largely system errors that could be
significantly reduced with proper management of medical information. Q:
Other advantages?
DL: Medical informatics
improves communication and acts as a bridge between patients
and physicians. In my own practice
patients have online access to some of their records, including
lab results with my comments. Information can empower patients
and encourage them to participate in their care. Medical
informatics also saves money - potentially billions
of dollars annually. Q:
How does the MMI program work?
DL: MMI students follow
one of two tracks, depending on whether their backgrounds
are in health care or in computing and
information technology. The program helps students leverage
their backgrounds to understand both sides of the equation. Q:
How do MMI students benefit from the program?
DL: There's an enormous need for a skilled workforce in medical informatics. The time and effort spent in the MMI program should pay off in expanded opportunities for Northwestern graduates.
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