Dr. Barry Mozenter graduated from TUSPM in 1980. He recently took time to tell us about his involvement with fight against COVID-19.
“I transitioned from practicing podiatry to healthcare information technology 23 years ago. For the last 10 years, I have been at Abington Jefferson Health. I am the clinical systems team lead and the pharmacy analyst for Abington/Lansdale Hospitals as well as the three hospitals comprising Jefferson Northeast (JNE) including Bucks, Torresdale and Frankford hospitals.
My involvement in the battle against COVID-19 has been in several areas involving configuration of the electronic medical record systems, specifically Allscripts Sunrise Acute Care/Sunrise Pharmacy, used at both Abington/Lansdale and JNE. This has included the rapid cycle creation and maintenance of order sets used for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. “
Dr. Mozenter also expedited the configuration of medications being employed to treat COVID-19, including modifications to the existing hydroxychloroquine order and the creation of new orders for interleukin-6 inhibitors, remdesivir and other clinical trial medications.
There were also other system configuration changes required as hospital units were converted to ICU beds in anticipation of the surge of patients, and the creation of new isolation orders
Although not directly involved in caring for patients, the support of the information technology department was vital in the health system's ability to effectively treat these patients.
Dr. Mozenter also took the time to tell us about his time at TUSPM and more about himself. He decided to transition out of podiatry because the daily office routine was becoming unfulfilling to him and he knew he wanted to do more with his career. While still practicing he decided to back to school and to earn a Master’s in Management Degree to try to position himself in a new medically-related career. Shortly before receiving his degree, he was hired at a medical software company previously known as Shared Medical Systems, and sold his practice to a former classmate.
Since leaving podiatry, Dr. Mozenter has been able to combine his medical knowledge and love for computers. Shortly after Jefferson acquired the other three hospitals, he was assigned to also be their analyst and has been managing the pharmacy IT requests for all five hospitals ever since. With all of this success outside of podiatry, Dr. Mozenter is most proud of maintaining good working relationships with pharmacists, nurses and physicians. He is happy to be someone that people are confident to go to when they need assistance with a problem.
When asked if he has any advice for Podiatry students who may be eventually looking to take a different route he encouraged them to go for what works best for them and what they will find most fulfilling. Dr. Mozenter says, “Podiatry gives you the ability and knowledge to take different routes in the medical field”. He admits that without his background in podiatry and in the clinical setting, it would be more difficult to accomplish what he is doing now.
Dr. Mozenter plans for the future include retiring in a few years. He is looking forward to traveling more and spending time with his two children. He hopes to one day have a grandchild. For now, though while the COVID-19 is still a major concern, he is happy to continue doing his part in fighting the virus and staying healthy.