Moments of impact: A life-long journey in public health

There are moments in our lives that are incredibly impactful, whether we are aware of their impact at the time they happen or in hindsight. For Jessica Kahn, senior expert in Public Sector Healthcare IT and Data at McKinsey & Company and recent recipient of HIMSS’s Most Influential Women in Health IT Award, her first professional moment of impact happened when a trembling infant, born with HIV, was placed into her arms. As a freshman in college at the University of Texas-Austin, Kahn answered an ad in the school newspaper for a volunteer position at a pediatric AIDS clinic, a position for whose sole role was to hold these young patients in need of human touch. It was at that moment, an infant in her arms, that Kahn committed her life to the health of these children and other families in need across the nation.