Prior to joining Children's, Dr. Levin had served as medical director of Informatics at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis/St. Paul since 1994. He also is a specialist in pediatric infectious disease.
This new role will allow Dr. Levin to serve as a liaison between physicians/caregivers at Children's and the designers of the hospital's information system in order to maximize the system's effectiveness in reducing errors and improving the delivery of care.
"Over the last four years, Children's has been at the forefront nationally of efforts by health care institutions to implement digital systems," said Roger A. Oxendale, Children's president and CEO. "In establishing the position of chief medical information officer and recruiting a physician with Dr. Levin's extensive experience, Children's can continue its implementation in the most effective manner possible - in a way that will have the most benefit for our patients."
In 2002, Children's became the first pediatric hospital in the country to fully implement a CPOE system, which greatly reduces the risk of medication and other errors. The system has been implemented in all inpatient areas and is being implemented gradually in Children's Emergency Department and outpatient clinics.
"As more hospitals across the country have begun implementing digital systems over the last several years, they've found the need for physician leadership to ensure an effective system supported by the hospitals' physicians," Dr. Levin said. "Because of the importance of this project, it is crucial to its success to have someone dedicated to the continued implementation in order to maximize its value in supporting communications between care providers and in clinical decision-making."
Dr. Levin earned a bachelor's degree in biochemical sciences at Princeton University in 1980. He earned his doctorate in genetics in 1987 and his medical degree in 1988, both from the University of Chicago. He completed his residency training in pediatrics at the University of Michigan in 1991. From 1991-94, Dr. Levin completed a research fellowship in health informatics and a medical fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Levin is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Informatics Association. He lives in Sewickley Hills with his wife, Regina, and two children, Hannah and Jonah. |