We are pleased to announce that Christian O. Perez, MD, was recently promoted to the rank of Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, effective January 1, 2025. Dr. Perez joined the Infectious Diseases Division faculty in 2016 at the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor. He became the UPMC Course Coordinator for the Inpatient Tele-ID Elective with the Internal Medicine Residency and ID Fellowship programs in 2020. He was one of the first physicians to transition to a 100% remote ID telemedicine position and given his extensive experience in Tele-ID, in 2020, Dr. Perez was appointed Director of Tele-ID Education with Infectious Disease (ID) Connect, Inc., a UPMC Enterprises telemedicine company connecting infectious diseases specialists with patients and physicians at remote hospitals for clinical consultation services.

Since 2021, Dr. Perez holds the position of Associate Medical Director of ID Connect. His main responsibilities include: (1) training and onboarding all new tele-ID providers and arranging for cross-coverage back up for busy Tele-ID services; (2) performing evaluations and providing improvement feedback to physicians; (3) performing an initial evaluation of new remote site needs and integrating individualized site workflows to meet site demands; (4) maintaining uniform quality of service among physicians for all remote sites; and, (5) creating “Best Practices Guidelines” for clinical workflows. Additionally, Dr. Perez is involved in the oversight of clinical services operations,nsuch as arranging for cross-coverage back up for busy services; maintaining even census numbers across all services by shuffling hospital sites into different services as needed; and, collaborating with remote site leaders to enhance sites’ clinical care. Despite an increase in administrative responsibilities, Dr. Perez spends 60% of his time providing clinical services and is credentialed at 18 hospitals and is familiar with 5 different Emergency Medical Records (EMR) systems. He frequently assists busier services by providing cross-coverage while on his own and has provided double coverage to multiple services due to his licensing across almost all sites. Dr. Perez is a critical member of the Infectious Diseases faculty, he has played a key role in the growth and expansion of the ID Connect services and has made an impact on patients’ lives in multiple communities in over 18 states. His record of accomplishments in clinical care, leadership, and teaching auger a bright future for him and continued contributions that will change the way ID care is provided in our country.

Congratulations, Christian!