L+M Physician Friday -- Dr. Jay Ginsberg

Dr. Jay Ginsberg is old enough to remember a time when something called a “mini computer” was all the rage in academic centers.

“It was about the size of a refrigerator,” he recalls, “but it was less powerful than a ‘smart phone’ is today.”

As a 30-year veteran nephrologist at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, Dr. Ginsberg has never stopped marveling at the advancement of computer technology, and he remains intensely involved in its continuing role in medicine.

Ginsberg is one of just three physicians named as Chief Medical Information Officers at L+M, assigned to help L+M’s Information Services team develop and implement a new integrated computerized medical information system.

Along with Drs. Mark Somers and David Boisoneau, Ginsberg is both an advisor to the computer programmers and a liaison between physicians and the technicians, helping to problem-solve as the system evolves.

“I love being on the cutting edge, and it’s very exciting to be a part of it,” Dr. Ginsberg says. “I really see the computer as the next major tool for physicians and nurses. First, it was the stethoscope 200 years ago, and, in the 20th century the X-Ray machine and the CT scanner…

“In the future,” he continues, “you’ll go to the computer and you’ll input patient information and the computer will start giving you suggestions, just like GPS does in the car. Of course, you’ll always need somebody to interpret the information.”

Dr. Ginsberg says he’s willing to help L+M improve its computer technology because: “I want to be able to have an impact on more than just one patient at a time, and I think the single best hope for the future of a hospital the size of L+M – and for our medical practices – is to computerize.”

When he’s not helping design a new computer system for the hospital, Ginsberg’s work as a nephrologist means he’s all about kidneys and helping people with poor renal function find ways to improve their lives.

Some of his patients have to be on dialysis because of poor kidney function, but he works with many patients to find ways to reduce the health risks that can lead to renal failure, such as uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure.

As much as he enjoys his work, Dr. Ginsberg, earlier in life, almost chose another field. He grew up in the Pittsburgh area and attended Carnegie Mellon University with plans to become an engineer. But, while taking an advanced bio-medical engineering course, he explains what happened:

“We were using dialysis techniques to try to create an artificial lung, and that got me very interested in dialysis,” he says. “After a lot of thought, I decided to go to medical school. It was a big turning point in my life.”

After graduating from Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, Dr. Ginsberg had a fellowship in nephrology at Brown University and, he says, “I fell in love with New England.”

He started at L+M in 1982, the first nephrologist to join the L+M medical staff. Today, despite his love of computers, he says his interactions with patients are at the heart of what he does.

“I’ve had patients from all walks of life, and I’ve gotten insights into their world and learned to appreciate that they don’t all fit stereotypes and the world is not always the way I see it,” he says. “It’s one of the things I love about this area: patients, for the most part, are really good-hearted people.”

In the end, Dr. Ginsberg is a man who loves technology and yet knows that something else also lies at the heart of L+M’s success over the years.

“People care,” he says. “That would be the most unique thing about this hospital. There are other small hospitals where they really care, but they’re not that good at what they do. And there are big hospitals where they’re very good at what they do but they don’t really care. At this hospital, people are good at what they do and they really care…

“It really is a pleasure to work here.”

To learn more about Dr. Ginsberg, click here.