Pediatric Associates of the Northwest
Portland, OR
portlandpediatric.com
With a mission to help kids thrive, PANW wanted an EHR that would help them provide better care to their families.
With a mission to help kids thrive, Pediatric Associates of the Northwest (PANW) had one question when selecting an EHR: Will this help us provide better care to our families?
Serving thousands of children across the Portland, Oregon metro area, that guiding question informs PANW’s every choice, from how they train staff and structure appointments, to the tools they rely on behind the scenes. So when their previous EHR system showed some clear deficits, they knew it was time for a change. Today, with PCC as their EHR partner, PANW is not only thriving clinically, but has also achieved greater financial transparency, smoother communication between both patients and providers, and more meaningful engagement with families.
Dr. Peter Reed, who’s been with the group for a decade and has served as its president for the last five years, shares how PCC has helped PANW streamline its workflows, strengthen its financial foundations, and stay focused on meeting their patients’ needs.
PANW has been part of the Portland community for decades, with three clinics across the metro area and a dedicated team of 15 pediatricians and four psychologists. Together, they serve around 16,000 pediatric patients, and during the busy fall months, extend their care to parents by offering flu and Covid vaccines.
“We know that pediatric care goes beyond treating illness,” says Dr. Reed. “Our goal is to help kids and families thrive. That means spending time with them, having real conversations, and making sure we’re addressing their needs as holistically as we can.”
That commitment to connection and community is woven into PANW’s DNA. Whether it’s supporting families facing food insecurity, creating a safe environment for every child, or helping parents navigate rising healthcare costs, PANW sees their work as going beyond medicine to include advocacy, education, and compassionate listening.
But that mission comes with challenges, especially for an independent practice that must manage everything from staffing to billing to compliance without the backing of a hospital or larger health system. “It’s a lot to juggle,” Dr. Reed admits. “Like all independent pediatricians, we’re running a business while also providing clinical care. We do multiple jobs at once.”
“The patient portal in our old EHR was very disconnected from the rest of the system,” Dr. Reed recalls. “We couldn’t send messages to families from within the chart, and it was really hard to do anything functional that was clinically integrated.”
Dr. Reed
Outgrowing Their Old EHR
For years, PANW relied on a previous EHR that seemed to get the job done well enough. Over time, however, the cracks began to show.
“The patient portal in our old EHR was very disconnected from the rest of the system,” Dr. Reed recalls. “We couldn’t send messages to families from within the chart, and it was really hard to do anything functional that was clinically integrated.”
As their former EHR was acquired by a larger company, it became clear that its updates weren’t necessarily focused on the needs of pediatricians. “They weren’t developing with the needs of independent pediatricians in mind,” he says. “We needed more from our EHR.”
PANW looked at another EHR before landing on PCC, but found that responsiveness was an issue. “It seemed like such a process to make a change or tailor something to our needs,” Dr. Reed explains. “It was cumbersome and slow, and we wanted more control.”
When the leadership team at PANW began looking for a new EHR, they knew they wanted strong customer service, a pediatric-focused design, flexibility and autonomy to make changes, and robust reporting and analytics to track both clinical and financial performance. “When we met with PCC,” Dr. Reed says, “It felt like we’d found the system that was designed for practices like ours.”
Meet Dr. Peter Reed! In this video, you’ll learn more about what he loves about working with kids and what culinary delight he enjoys making in his free time.
Finding Partnership in PCC
The transition to a new EHR can be daunting for any medical practice, especially one as busy as PANW. But from the very beginning, Dr. Reed says, the PCC team stood out for their hands-on support and understanding of pediatric workflows.
“One big thing we were looking for was an EHR company that was actively listening,” he says. “With PCC, it’s clear they built their system based on what pediatricians actually need.”
That responsiveness made the switch not just manageable, but empowering. “It’s refreshing that we can make changes ourselves,” Dr. Reed adds. “PCC gives us that autonomy.”
And that autonomy in turn, has allowed PANW to evolve both clinically and financially.
Seeing the Whole Picture: Growth Through Data
One of the most transformative features for PANW has been PCC’s Practice Vitals Dashboard, an analytics tool that turns clinical and financial practice data into actionable insights.
“The Dashboard has been really helpful for us,” says Dr. Reed. “It shows how we’re doing internally, but also lets us compare ourselves to other PCC practices. It gives us benchmarking that’s hard to find anywhere else in a format that’s very easily accessible.”
These insights help PANW track key performance metrics like well-visit rates, immunization coverage, behavioral health screenings, and more. But just as importantly, the Dashboard offers visibility into the financial health of the practice.
“We gained a better ability for our non-billing leadership to see what’s happening with our accounts—how many claims are going through, where the bottlenecks are,” Dr. Reed explains. “This tool gave us insight almost immediately that our billing wasn’t where it needed to be. Based on what we saw in PCC, we made changes that drastically improved our financial situation.”
This level of transparency has been incredibly beneficial for a practice that balances multiple locations and specialties.
“With PCC, we’re able to see billing numbers and also connect the dots between those numbers and how we’re doing clinically,” Dr. Reed says.
Tailored to Independent Pediatric Practices
Beyond data and dashboards, what PANW values most about PCC is as much about what it leaves out as what it includes.
“I think PCC is fairly minimal in its footprint,” says Dr. Reed. “It doesn’t do a lot of things we just don’t need. We’re not taking care of adults or working in the hospital. Most EHRs are massive, but most of their features are superfluous to us. PCC is focused on outpatient pediatric care, and that makes it easier to use and train on.”
Another pediatric-specific aspect of the EHR, according to Dr. Reed, is how PCC treats families as a unit.
“You can open sibling charts at the same time and share information across a family,” Dr. Reed says. “That may sound simple, but it’s very helpful. It recognizes that families are interconnected, and it allows us to treat them that way.”
That emphasis on families aligns perfectly with PANW’s family-centered philosophy.
Maintaining Stability in Tough Times
Running an independent pediatric practice today means navigating an increasingly complex environment, from changing healthcare regulations, to rising operational costs, to the social and political pressures affecting families across the country.
“We’re dealing with so many challenges right now,” Dr. Reed says. “We’re trying to make sure our patients aren’t hungry. We have to be prepared with policies and training in case ICE shows up at our door. We’re dealing with health insurance premiums going up for our patients and for us, since we also provide coverage for our employees.”
For Dr. Reed, these realities make it all the more important to have reliable, efficient tools that don’t create additional stress for PANW’s providers.
“To bring it back to PCC,” he says, “We have so many other things going on. I’m just glad our EHR is functional, efficient, and adaptable. It’s nice to not have the EHR be another thing we have to worry about.”
PCC helps make independent practice sustainable in bumpy times, Dr. Reed explains. “They understand the unique pressures that come with running an independent practice. Everything in the EMR is designed to help us thrive without sacrificing the quality of care.”
Looking Ahead: Adapting and Growing with PCC
As PANW continues to evolve, Dr. Reed feels confident that PCC will grow alongside them.
“Yes, the pediatric care landscape is changing fast,” he says. “But PCC has shown that they’re responsive and committed to supporting us, and all of their clients.” The team plans to continue leveraging PCC’s analytics tools to improve clinical outcomes, monitor preventive care metrics, and identify opportunities for improvement.
“Having the data we need at our fingertips helps us be proactive with how we’re meeting our families’ needs,” Dr. Reed says. With PCC, PANW has found a partner that shares their commitment to adapting, evolving, and thriving, no matter the conditions.
