From digital tools that help schedule appointments to telehealth visits in schools, it’s an exciting time in pediatrics as technological advancements are helping make care for children more accessible and convenient than ever before.
Charno
“When you’re a parent and something happens to your child you need speed,” said Chrysa Charno, PA-C, MBA, FCUCM, and CEO/clinical director of AcuteKids, Pediatric Urgent Care, which has locations in Webster and Gates.
One of the ways AcuteKids uses technology to speed up the process of getting children in quickly for illness, lacerations, injuries and other urgent care needs is by utilizing online registration where parents can pre-register their children before coming in.
“Parents can do everything from their house before they come,” Charno said. “So instead of having to worry about a child running around in the waiting room as you’re trying to complete a registration, you upload your driver’s license and insurance card at home, and we can verify everything before you even walk in the door.”
Technology tools like this that put parents in the driver’s seat are important, according to a 2019 study in Academic Pediatrics that showed parent use of technology to manage child health issues has the potential to improve access and health outcomes. The study also found that parents’ desire for technologies for provider communication is high and does not differ by health literacy.
Charno is always looking into ways in which technology can be used to enhance patient care. AcuteKids, which opened its Webster location in 2019 and Gates location in 2023, was the first area urgent care to launch an in-office PCR machine during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This allowed AcuteKids to balance the school-mandated testing requirements with the surges of new variants, diagnosing Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Influenza A&B and Sars-CoV-2 with just one swab and getting results to families quickly.
“The ability to provide molecular-based testing just completely changed our practice and really changed this city,” Charno said. “It allowed kids to get back to school on time and a lot of parents to get back to work quicker, rather than taking five to seven days off to wait for the results of a send-out test. It was really a game changer.”
School-based health centers bolstered by technology also play a significant role locally in the care of children and support of their caregivers. Among the services school-based health services can provide are primary health care, injuries, immunizations, nutrition education, physical examinations, mental health evaluations and ongoing treatment and case management.
Milne Wenderlich
“The most common place that children are is in school, and we want to keep them in school as much as we can,” said Dr. Andrea Milne Wenderlich M.D., M.S. telemedicine medical director of the Golisano Children’s Hospital Pediatric Practice. “We do treatment for both acute and chronic conditions using telemedicine in the school.”
Both the University of Rochester Medical Center and Rochester Regional Health have school-based health centers located inside schools in the Rochester City School District. There is no direct cost to students or families that utilize either organization’s school-based health centers and both organizations use TytoCare technology.
TytoCare is a small, handheld digital device with attachments — like an otoscope and tongue depressor — that lets healthcare providers off-site guide patients through medical exams remotely. It can capture heart and lung sounds, body temperature, heart rate and videos and images of the inner ears, skin, and throat.
Wilson
“We are in partnership with the University of Rochester and Jordan Health, and a few independent practices, to bring TytoCare care units to every school in the Rochester City School district to improve access to care, because we know this particular district is struggling,” said Dr. LeKeyah N. Wilson, M.D., medical director of community pediatrics and wellness at Rochester Regional Health. “There are a lot of disparities in health.”
Wilson, who says Rochester Regional Health is committed to having up-to-date technology and utilizing it to improve the whole care experience for patients and providers, has seen an increase in families throughout the region using telehealth for their children over the past few years.
“Some of my families are so busy,” Wilson said. “They have multiple kids…sports…work. What if they have to take off work or get transportation to our office when it’s a follow-up for medication or a chronic condition? It’s so much easier to just tap the app.”
Wilson is also seeing more of a demand from families for telehealth behavioral health services for their children and Rochester Regional Health is working to increase those services.
One of Milne Wenderlich’s favorite parts of her job as a pediatrician is talking to caregivers during or after a telemedicine visit about how it went for them and what differences it makes for their family.
“There’s a lot of different ways that we’re able to help families by using telemedicine,” she said “It helps parents stay at work or stay home caregiving for other children or adults. Many families also have transportation issues that are alleviated by telehealth.”
For families that have children with chronic conditions, like asthma or ADHD, who need a lot of visits to manage the condition, Milne Wenderlich says telemedicine – especially school-based- can be ideal.
“These kids most likely miss school a lot because of appointments, so being able to provide that link to care without missing school is really, really important,” she said.
Caurie Putnam is a Rochester-area freelance writer.
