If a healthcare computer geek could be the world's champion at the quiz show "Jeopardy!", how well will a geek doc do?
Friends of physician informaticist Dr. Harris Stutman are finding out.
Stutman, a retired former executive director of clinical informatics at MemorialCare Health System, Long Beach, Calif., now a health IT consultant, is a two-round winner thus far in the popular TV game show. He won $23,000 in his initial appearance June 24.
The pediatric infectious disease specialist from Huntington Beach., Calif., scored a come-from-behind win in his second session June 27, the only contestant to correctly answer a Final Jeopardy! question about French monarchs: “His reign was interrupted for “100 days” in the 19th century before he was restored & reined for 9 years more.”
Trailing in third place with $9,200 winnings that far, Stutman bet $7,500 and answered correctly, “Who is Louis XVIII?”
The leader going into the final round with $21,000 gave an incorrect answer and, having his $4,601 wager deducted from his total, lost by $301.
Health IT seems to be good mental training for "Jeopardy!” The all-time champ, Ken Jennings, who put together a 74-game win streak in 2004, winning more than $2.5 million in the process, was a software engineer for CHG Healthcare Services, the Holiday, Utah,-based healthcare staffing firm.
Stutman is a founding board member of the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems, a professional association of physician informaticists whose members this week peppered Stutman with ribbing and congratulations on the group's listserv.
“I had to sign a 12-page 'agreement' to get on the show, so I can't divulge questions or results in advance of the shows, but I had a lot of fun with this,” Stutman posted in response. “I was hoping for some categories like 'EHR and You', or maybe 'MU Potpourri' but wouldn't you know, they never came up.”
