Q&A with Mordechai Raskas, PM Pediatrics' Chief Medical Information Officer
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Earlier this year, Avo announced an expanded partnership with PM Pediatrics, the country’s leading pediatric urgent care provider. Since then, PM Pediatrics has expanded its services and utilized Avo’s technology to improve the clinician and patient experience.
We caught up with Mordechai Raskas, the Chief Medical Information Officer and Director of Telemedicine at PM Pediatrics, to chat about the company’s growth, their use of the Avo technology, and what he predicts the future of healthcare technology looks like.
Avo: What is PM Pediatrics most proud of in 2021?
Raskas: Our true transformation from a pediatric urgent care to a pediatric healthcare company. We now offer behavioral health services, school telemedicine, and are expanding with a number of other pediatric initiatives.
Avo: How are you leveraging Avo’s technology to better serve both clinicians and patients at PM Pediatrics?
Raskas: With a rapidly changing business, in a rapidly changing world, it is essential that we can communicate with our clinicians in a way that is effective and of their choice. We pride ourselves on having a quality focused company where high standards and safety are our top priorities. Mobile and app-based workflows are key ways we effectively transmit our clinical guidelines and Avo is the backbone of that technology.
Avo: What are your hopes for outcomes? How will you be measuring this?
Raskas: Ultimately, we measure the impact of clinical guidelines in our adherence to these guidelines. We collect data regarding each encounter and, in an anonymous way, aggregate that data by clinician, by office, and by region to ensure that we are adhering to our set standard. While determining the impact of Avo or any specific technology on achieving those standards can be challenging, we look at usage of Avo and feedback from our clinicians to help guide us. We are also work with our EHR (eClinicalWorks) and Avo to establish an interface and a more seamless experience for our clinicians so that our clinical guidelines are at their digital fingertips when with the patient at hand.
Avo: How will Avo to help support your growth strategy?
Raskas: As we expand into new services lines including behavioral health, school telemedicine and the ever-changing world of COVID, it is imperative that we have a tool that we can centrally manage and effortlessly distribute our guidelines with. Avo is that tool. In addition, we are excited to partner with Avo on a number of their new initiatives and we will be sharing our pediatric guidelines with other customers.
Avo: What was the impact of COVID-19 on PM Pediatrics in 2021?
Raskas: Perhaps the better question is “what did COVID-19 not impact at PM Pediatrics”. Our entire business has changed. Perhaps the most important impact has been the new challenge of unpredictability. Our business model and visit volumes were previously well understood in advance. Now, our business model and volumes change on a monthly basis, and we have had to become even more nimble and willing to re-envision the work we do.
Avo: Given PMP’s leadership in clinical guidelines, what are your suggestions for how other pediatric-serving health organizations can improve their practical implementation of evidence-based medicine?
Raskas: I would suggest focusing on the culture of change and the change management. Developing the guidelines and distributing them effectively are both challenges, but far less challenging than getting clinicians to adopt them. Having key leaders willing to champion the cause of the guidelines is key.
Avo: Looking to the future, what health tech trends do you predict will impact healthcare delivery models?
Raskas: I think COVID has accelerated the development of telemedicine and digital tools for telemedicine. Currently many of these visit types and tools are siloed and separated from more traditional and in-person healthcare. The next phase which has certainly begun will be to adopt these new tools and technologies into existing workflows and develop a hybrid type of medicine that is both better than “in person alone” and “telemedicine alone”. The sum will be greater than the parts.
Meet Dr. Mordechai Raskas
Dr. Mordechai Raskas is the Chief Medical Information Officer and Director of Telemedicine for PM Pediatrics, where he oversees telemedicine, manages the electronic health record, and leads business intelligence efforts. Dr. Raskas has a passion for using technology in medicine and has presented at multiple national conferences on his research efforts involving novel uses of both telemedicine and the electronic health record. He is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric emergency medicine, and clinical informatics. Dr. Raskas completed his Pediatric residency at Texas Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center. He received his medical degree at Harvard Medical School. While at Harvard, he also completed a Master of Education degree and a leadership fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School, led by former U.S. presidential adviser David Gergen. When not working, he enjoys hiking and spending time outdoors with his wife and 3 young sons.
PM Pediatrics was founded on the belief that there is a better way to deliver urgent care to kids and young adults. Our mission is to ensure our patients receive superior quality pediatric acute care when they need it, without having to wait long for it. PM Pediatrics has had over 4 million visits across our 70 offices nationwide. We are staffed by pediatric emergency specialists, including pediatric emergency physicians and board-certified pediatricians, who are specially trained in treating children in urgent care situations while minimizing pain and unnecessary tests.