Advanced Pediatrics Featured at InsideHealth.com

Advanced Pediatrics Featured at 

www.InsideHealth.com 

We were pleased to find Advanced Pediatrics featured on the front page of the important health care

news website, InsideHealth.com on October 18, 2012.

Here is the article:

Pediatric Practice at Cutting-Edge of Technology Use

Oct 18th, 2012 | By admin | Category: 2012 Current Feature

Pediatrician and author Dr. Arthur Lavin, M.D. has been practicing relationship-based pediatrics with the help of technology for more than 20 years.  Based in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, Advanced Pediatrics is a small, independently-owned practice providing a wide range of services to patients and their families. 

From its inception in 2003, Advanced Pediatrics has been an EMR-based practice.  Setting off on his own nine years ago afforded Lavin a unique opportunity to go paperless from the onset.  At its founding, Advanced Pediatrics had its own network, originally a peer to peer (P2P) network and then later an application service provider (ASP) based in Massachusetts.  ASP data met Lavin’s needs and ensured the safety of patient data from physical disasters such as fire.

Using Technology

Lavin and his staff use mobile, wireless tablet PCs to chart patient information, access medical libraries and respond immediately to patient questions during clinical visits.  For example, information on weight control, immunization and allergies is often printed on the spot, or emailed directly to the family for later reference 

Lavin also relies heavily upon the website Epocrates.com, a comprehensive drug database site which features pediatric dosage charts, drug interaction checks and pill identification functions.  Before prescribing any medication, Lavin often uses his wireless tablet to access the site’s drug referencing which allows a physician to plug in the drugs prescribed to a child and then determines any potential hazardous interactions.

In 2010, Advanced Pediatrics updated its EMR system.  “We wanted a platform that we knew would be around in 20 more years,” Dr. Lavin tells Inside Healthcare IT.  “We choose eClinical Works because of how they created, conceived and designed the integration of their disparate applications including a prescription writer, lab order, progress notes and billing program.”

Social Media

Advanced Pediatrics uses several technologies and avenues to push information out into the community.  Dr. Lavin regularly writes informative articles on topical issues – everything from flu vaccinations to the hazards of trampolines to the epidemic use of stimulant drugs.  These articles populate Advanced Pediatrics’ web page (http://www.advancedped.com), blog (http://advancedped.blogspot.com), Facebook site and Twitter feed.  Additionally, an email blast to patient families several times a month provides electronic updates and resources.

“ The benefit of social media marketing is that a lot of people I have no direct contact with are reading my writings,” Lavin remarks.  Social media helps Advanced Pediatrics reach thousands more than are connected via the traditional patient/doctor relationship.

Looking Forward

Despite advancements in technology, Lavin believes the practice of medicine – specifically pediatrics – is very much the same from when he began practicing medicine.  “If someone has a cold, the family and I are still talking about it the same way we did in 1980,” Lavin comments.

Lavin believes the next wave of technology in medicine will be the use of algorithms to replace routine diagnosis.  He cites examples in other fields already embracing algorithms, such as the algorithmic trading involving automated trading frequently used by pension funds, mutual funds and other buy-side, investor driven institutional traders.

“People are applying these technologies to medicine right now,” Lavin says.  “Computer programs now on Skype can figure your pulse based upon the changing colors in your face and imagines of your chest beating.”

Medical tasks including taking your blood pressure and diagnosing an ear infection can already be done remotely with the help of smart-phone assisted applications.

But the real revolution in using technology comes from the enhanced patient care.

“Our access to information is incredible,” Lavin says.  “Advanced Pediatrics uses technology to reduce the hassle of everything that gets in the way of valued medical conversation.  That is technology’s real revolution: more personal connections.”

Lavin is a graduate of Harvard University (BA) and the Ohio State University (MD).  He trained at MIT and is a board certified specialist in newborn medicine.  He has served on a number of national committees of the AAP and as president of the Northern Ohio Pediatrics Society. He is the co-author of two parenting books, “Who’s the Boss? Moving Families from Conflict to Collaboration” (Collaboration Press, 2006) and “Baby & Toddler Sleep Solutions for Dummies” (Wiley, 2007).

–Correspondent Debra Mayers Hollander

Sidebar:

EMR has provided Advanced Pediatrics increased efficiency, 24-hour access to patient records and operational cost savings.  Advanced Pediatrics worked with IT consultant, Frederick Johnson, President and CIO of Ross-Tek, a small business IT solutions company with offices in Cleveland, Chicago and Tampa.  Ross-Tek is a Microsoft Certified Partner enabling its customers – particularly small businesses – to access the latest in network solutions using Microsoft-based applications.

Realizing the innovation and forward-thinking of Advanced Pediatrics’ use of technology in 2003, Johnson recommended Advanced Pediatrics to Microsoft for inclusion in their selective case-study-based-launch of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 and Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003. 

Advanced Pediatrics was selected by Microsoft as one of only 15 businesses – and the only medical practice – nationwide to be cast as a model of small business technology solutions.  The ensuing video case study was distributed to 60,000 IT vendors across the world and in 2005 was ranked #5 in global viewing of all Microsoft small business video case studies.

 Copyright 2012 Algonquin Professional Publishing, LLC

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